Frankenset Page #38

On Tuesday, 4 more talented individuals joined Lee Smith and Harold Baines as the members of the 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame Class. Before I share my thoughts, congratulations to Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Roy Halladay (RIP), and of course, the first-ever unanimous selection, Mariano Rivera.

This year's HOF class is definitely pitching heavy with 4 pitchers, including 2 relievers being elected. Rivera being a unanimous decision is surprising, especially when you consider that Ken Griffey Jr. was 3 votes away from that mark back in 2016. Seriously, I would love to hear a justified reason for not voting "The Kid" into Cooperstown.

Better yet, it took Trevor Hoffman, arguably the 2nd best reliever of all-time, 3 years to make it into Cooperstown. While Rivera has certainly earned his place in the Hall, it was surprising to see him be the first unanimous inductee.

As for Martinez and Halladay, both of them were included on my 2019 Hall of Fame ballot. One of the most dominant pitchers of the 21st century and one of the 90s' most feared hitters, I'm thrilled to see both Doc and Edgar be elected into Cooperstown. 

Martinez along with Tim Raines being elected on their final years of eligibility also gives me hope that Todd Helton will be elected someday, having debuted on the ballot with just 16.5% of the votes.

The only inductee I'm struggling to agree with is Mike Mussina. On his 6th year of eligibility, Mussina received roughly 76% of the votes, including a pretty large jump from last year to 2019. 

However, with only 1 20-win season, his final year, under the 5-time All-Star's belt, his numbers don't exactly blow me away. His career 3.68 ERA is fine, but it doesn't exactly scream Hall of Fame. I suppose his 2,813 strikeouts help his cause but keep in mind that number is through over 3,500 innings pitched.

I could talk about the Hall of Fame class for much longer, but I'm going to move onto the 38th page of my frankenset now. This page includes cards #334-342.

#334 2014 Topps Heritage Alcides Escobar

A true test of how good a Topps Heritage set recreates the original product is having not just the set design, but the pictures resemble something you'd see in the older set. 

1965 Topps featured a lot of headshots rather than action images or photos of that sort, so I must give Topps credit for the image they used for this card as well as the ability to use a nice retro color combination for a team like the Royals who weren't around back in 1965.

#335 2008 Topps Heritage Brandon Phillips

It'll be a shame once I reach the mid-400s of my frankenset, for there will be little to no Topps Heritage cards remaining. I always count on there at least one of them on any given page, and with cards like the Escobar and Phillips, it's easy to see why Topps Heritage is my favorite set year after year.

#336 2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Ivan Nova

Even with my dislike for the Yankees, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing crisp and bright Yankee home jerseys with pinstripes on cardboard. The Yankees' home uniforms are one of the most recognizable uniforms in all of the American sports, hence why I collect so many Yankees players like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

#337 2016 Topps Heritage Yordano Ventura

It's been roughly 2 years since the Baseball world lost Yordano Ventura to a tragic car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was such a key part of the 2015 Royals World Series team, and I fondly remember Edinson Volquez's no-hitter back in 2017 which he dedicated to Ventura, his former teammate. 

RIP.

#338 1986 Topps Jorge Bell

When you have a set as large as 1986 Topps, 792 cards to be exact, it's almost necessary to have some untraditional photos that aren't necessarily taken on a Baseball field. That's what makes this Jorge Bell card so cool, along with the slightly sideways Blue Jays cap that he has on and the awesome Blue Jays uniform from the mid-1980s.

#339 1984 Topps Roy Lee Jackson

Speaking of the cool Blue Jays uniforms from the 80s, here they are once again, this time in the 1984 Topps set. Roy Lee Jackson's card, along with Jorge Bell's, is predominantly blue. Even the Blue Jays' pitchers' pants seem to be a light shade of blue along with the uniform, seats, player name, and team name throughout the card.

#340 2010 Topps John Buck

I didn't even realize until I started this blog post that I have 3 straight Toronto Blue Jays cards on my 38th frankenset page, but at least I made some good choices. I love seeing action shots of catchers make it onto Baseball cards which is the main reason why a lesser-known player like John Buck made the cut for this page.

#341 1983 Topps Doug DeCinces

In one way or another, Topps' methods of overproduction can be a blessing in addition to a curse. For example, 1983 Topps has always been a very underrated set, but after Topps chose to include the product as an insert set throughout 2018 Topps Series 1, 2, and Update, myself along with all sorts of collectors were able to become more familiar with the greatest Flagship set of the 1980s.

#342 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen B.J. Upton

While we've all been waiting to see where Bryce Harper and Manny Machado end up, MLB has taken the time to inform us of other, less exciting news. For instance, apparently, Melvin Upton Jr, formally B.J. Upton, has changed his first name back to B.J. 

Side note; I really do like this card. I just wish MLB free agency was a little more exciting during these cold, New England months.

2 More to the Hall

Despite the announcement not even being a day old, there's been quite a lot of conversation regarding Lee Smith and Harold Baines' election to the Baseball Hall of Fame via the Today's Game committee.

I'll be honest, this HOF vote, separate from the regular ballot that will be voted on in January, was one that came out of the blue for me. Last year, Alan Trammell and Jack Morris were elected into the Hall through a special committee as well, and although there was little denying that these 2 belong in Cooperstown, there's some room for discussion when it comes to Baines and Smith.

While Smith received every vote from the 16-person committee that voted on a group including Lou Piniella and Joe Carter, Baines received the minimum 12 votes necessary to be inducted. 

A career .289 hitter, many people are saying that Baines belongs more in the "Hall of Very Good" rather than the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I'll start with Lee Smith's case, the former all-time Saves leader with 478. To this day, he's still 3rd on the list behind recent Hall of Fame inductee Trevor Hoffman and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera. 

Smith was a 7-time All-Star compared to Baines' 6 All-Star game appearances and even finished 2nd in the 1991 NL Cy Young award voting. Dubbed the greatest relief pitcher of his generation, Smith spent his 17-year career with the Cubs, Cardinals, and Red Sox primarily, though he also played Angels, Reds, Expos, Yankees, and Orioles at one point or another. 

He really hit his stride with the Cardinals in the early 90s, and his 1,251 strikeouts as a reliever remain impressive to this day.

On the other hand, there's Harold Baines and the number #134 that is bound to be brought up a lot as the days go on. At the end of his career, Baines was just 134 hits away from joining the 3,000 hit club as well as tying Roberto Clemente on the all-time list. However you look at it, that stat is impressive. 

However, because he transferred to DH basically full-time starting in 1987, writers and fans alike are saying that he should compensate with a better offensive performance. While there's no denying Baines was good, it's more of a debate as to if he was great.

Personally, I don't have an issue with Baines in the Hall of Fame so long as Edgar Martinez joins him in this class when the votes are announced in January. Martinez finished his career with superior stats and WAR and was just 5% off from making it earlier this year. While he'd certainly be able to be elected via a committee, it would be best for the career .312 to be inducted now.

As Harold Baines and Lee Smith progressed through their careers, the game of Baseball began to change. From the time each player made their debut in 1980 and retired in the late 90s or early 2000s, Baseball as a whole had changed so much, becoming far more of a game made for power hitters and dominant starting pitchers. 

Because of this, people began to pay less and less attention to guys like Lee Smith and Harold Baines, players who were still stars but not being seen as such. It's hard to stand out when you're playing in the same league as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa when they're hitting insane numbers of home runs. By the time they get busted for PEDs, the game's changed too much for Baines and Smith to be remembered for the players they were.

Do I completely agree with Harold Baines being inducted to the Hall? No, but I'm trying to see it from other perspectives. Rather than looking at Baines and Lee Smith from today's perspective and all the analytics that didn't affect either of them while they were playing, it's critical to think about Harold Baines and Lee Smith through the era they played in.

Maybe if we do that, the committee's decision will start to make more sense.

My 2019 Hall of Fame Ballot

Whether it's the ranking of sets released this year or my card of the year post that I put out earlier this week, the end of the calendar year always entails certain special posts that I always have a fun time writing. This year, I'm writing one of them, my 2019 Hall of Fame ballot, a little bit early.

Unfortunately, I don't actually have a say in who's to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame this January, so this ballot merely acts as what my choices would look like if I was on the committee. 

After I predicted last years' inductees on my 2018 ballot, there's a little bit of added pressure to keep up this streak.

This time around, I don't expect my ballot to be 100% correct simply because some of my choices are a little bit unexpected. The group includes 3 players whose first year it is on the ballot and 2 guys on their last year. 

The chances of my ballot being completely accurate are slim but at the end of the day, the 5 players I'm about to talk about belong in Cooperstown, at least in my book.

Considering he had received just 27% of the votes 3 years ago, Edgar Martinez came a long way to reach 70% in 2018. Now, all he needs is that final push to make the Hall of Fame on his final year on the ballot just like Tim Raines did in 2017. His stats, specifically his career .312 average and 2,247 hits speak for themselves as Martinez was one of the most consistent hitters of the 90s. 

While he was never able to capture AL MVP, he was a 7-time All-Star who drove in 100+ runs 6 times in his career. He's made far largest jumps on the ballot than 5% over the last few years, giving him a fairly high likelihood of being elected to Cooperstown.

Frankly, it's pretty much certain that Fred McGriff won't be elected to the Hall of Fame on his 10th and final ballot due to falling just shy of 25% of the votes needed to become a Hall of Fame inductee. It's unfortunate because McGriff ended his career with 493 home runs, the same total as Lou Gehrig, 1,500 RBI, and 10 hits shy of 2,500. 

What I think McGriff lacked throughout his career, more than anything, was the ability to be a true impact player. While he was a phenomenal hitter, he never really got the chance to make a huge splash in the Baseball world and was instead overshadowed by other hitters of the 90s. As a result, he became one of the most underrated players in Baseball history.

Easily the greatest Colorado Rockie to ever play the game, Todd Helton excelled as a power hitter in one of the toughest ballparks to hit a home run in all of the MLB. In addition to sporting a career .316 batting average, Helton put together a stellar resumé over the course of his 17-year career, including over 350 home runs, 2,500 hits, and 1,400 RBI.

However, Helton's ability went beyond career stats as he was the winner of the 2000 NL Batting Title with a .372 average and was the winner of 3 Gold Glove awards for his stupendous defense at first base. Even as he grew older, Helton maintained his status as a consistent and well-respected player, traits that should lead him to the Hall of Fame.

With 2019 being his first year on the ballot, the late Roy Halladay is likely to be one of the most debated players on whether he belongs in Cooperstown or not. Despite playing a semi-short career of 16 years which is still pretty impressive, Halladay captured 2 Cy Young awards, 1 in each league, and struck out over 2,000 batters in around 2,700 innings pitched.

Halladay completed 67 starts throughout his career, including 20 shutouts, and was a major factor behind the 2009 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Though he struggled in his last 2 seasons, they do not represent who he was as a player. His career 3.38 ERA showcases Halladay as one of the best pitchers of the century, someone whose plaque deserves to hang in Cooperstown.

RIP Doc.

Even though this years' class is being called one of the weaker Hall of Fame classes that we've seen over the last few years, I think there's one player we can all agree deserves Baseball's highest honor. Whether you think relief pitchers belong in Cooperstown or not, Mariano Rivera was more than just your average closer, way more, in fact.

His 652 saves were rivaled only by 2018 inductee Trevor Hoffman, and he still finished his career with 50 saves fewer than Mariano. He remains one of the most consistent players we ever saw play the game of Baseball, even if his role was different than that of a position player. A 2.21 ERA, 1,173 strikeouts, and his 13-time All-Star appearances are just some of his credentials. Believe me, I could go on.

While I felt pretty confident that Thome, Guerrero, Hoffman, and Jones would all be inducted this year, I'm not too certain about all my choices for 2019. However, with the evidence presented above, each player is capable of making a strong case for the Hall of Fame.