Well, it’s that time of the year again. It’s the time when I know I will be upset over something so stupid.

Last year I made my fourth lifetime trip to Cooperstown, second on induction weekend.

Cooperstown is a magical and mystical place, especially to someone who grew up loving baseball. It’s a place where legends are remembered and no matter how old you are you become a child again, swept up in it all. And on the Saturday of Hall of Fame Weekend, the last weekend in July, all the heroes from your childhood and legends from before parade up and down the one street in town; the one with the traffic light.

If you’ve never been to Cooperstown stop thinking about going, just go. It’s a quick 5-hour drive from Toronto.

Every year, the “Hall” welcomes its newest inductees on that magical July weekend. These members represent the greatest players who ever played the game. How are these new members chosen? They are chosen by a panel of baseball writers; the same writers who choose the MVP awards and other yearly awards on an annual basis; the same writers who make their living covering these players and the same writers who profited during their heydays.

Last year, Stacie and I went to Cooperstown to honor Jays broadcasting legend Tom Cheek who finally was awarded a broadcasting honor on the Saturday of Hall of Fame Weekend. The Sunday is reserved for the inductees. However, for the first time in almost thirty years (I didn’t bother to fact check, but its been a long time), the ceremony honored zero living inductees. The veterans committee selected three members from the pre-1900 era for induction. Sure tales by great grandnephews of players and umpires of a time nobody who is currently alive remembers were interesting, but I don’t even think any of the geriatrics who accepted the honor and gave speeches were alive at the same time as their now legendary family members.

And the lack of current inductees was not due to lack of deserving players. Somewhere along the line, these writers have decided that morality (their personal definition) is going to be the defining factor that determines who gets in and who doesn’t. These writers became experts in circumstantial evidence, dermatology (explaining the root of bacne) and preachers of revisionist history. While certain decisions made by ballplayers in the mid 1990’s and early aughts may be “morally wrong” or “unacceptable” in the sport today, they were nonetheless prevalent in the game at that time. These same players also saved the game at the time it was possibly dying post a bitter strike that cancelled a world series. So, to exclude a portion of history because you have a problem with it “today” but didn’t have a problem with it when you voted Barry Bonds to MVP after MVP and Roger Clemens to Cy Young after Cy Young, is inexcusable. To eliminate from the hall, the heroes and the players from my youth is also wrong. In the end, the Hall of Fame isn’t built for the writers, who I doubt have ever paid for an admission ticket or a membership, but was built for people like me, the fan.

The sport of baseball and those who played in it have a history of immorality like none other. The hall is littered with known racists, domestic assault convictions, known cheaters (ie. the spitball) and prevalent drug users where greenies, amphetamines and cocaine use were commonplace in the 1970s. I have no idea why steroids is the line that was drawn in the sand and this 15 year period of players are the ones who are going to suffer. I should add that major league baseball didn’t even consider steroid use illegal until recently. So while you may question the morality of players who used, no rule was broken.

It is especially irritating as we wait for the announcement on Wednesday knowing that three managers from this era have been voted in this year – unanimously. These three managers all accumulated their fame and success in the height of the steroid era. Rick Reilly wrote a great piece about this exact fact. In all 34 players who’ve been actually implicated as PED users played on teams they oversaw….Arod, Clemens, Giambi, McGwire, Canseco, Melky Cabrera, Justice, Pettitte, Manny Ramirez and Sheffield. It’s a who’s who of all-stars. La Russa is the one that hurts the most. Under his watch you might say the steroid era was born and invented.

Anyway, we didn’t spend close to 700 words setting up my opinion, which if you are reading this you likely agree with it. I assume that most of my contemporaries who lived their childhood through this era all fall on the same side of the argument as I.

So without much further ado, I will present my hall of fame ballot.

This is the same ballot that I have been crafting for close to 10 years; a ballot that I started creating when I first dreamed that I would do anything for a vote; a ballot that when I first created could be sent in by fax – the newest and greatest invention and quite incidentally is only one of two ways you can submit your ballot today, with the other of course being by regular post.

In the age of the internet some of the mystery from the announcement day (Wednesday at 2pm) is gone. There is a website that has been created that tracks the published hall of fame votes. So you get a pretty good idea who is getting in, who isn’t and who is on the cusp. Of course, the ones who publish their votes via the internet are more likely to be persuaded by new age advanced statistics and are generally less offended by the steroid use, so in all likelihood the older players may get an uptick. I will publish their expected vote through approximately 25% of known voters.

There appears to be 3 “locks” to get in this year; Greg Maddux (100%), Tom Glavine (97.2%) and Frank Thomas (92.4%). All three make my ballot.

Greg Maddux: He is the closest to a sure thing as there is and I’m glad the voters see that, so this is my only chance that I will have to write about him. His stats are hall of fame worthy (355 wins, 3.16 ERA, under 1.15 WHIP, over 3000 strikeouts and I think I counted 18 gold gloves. He won 4 Cy Young awards (all in a row, I believe) and was the most dominant pitcher that I can remember. Top it off with 9 straight trips to the post-season, and at least a handful of games that my friend Ethan can show you on tape which finish in under two hours of pitching mastery. In my baseball pool we all do this silly thing whereby if we draft a player in his rookie season (or even before) and that player becomes great, we will claim to have “discovered him”. Well, I discovered Greg Maddux when he was on the Cubs and have been a fan ever since. There was nothing that made me happier when the braves were eliminated from from the playoffs in 1993.  I was deathly afraid of facing him three times in a short series.

Tom Glavine: Along with Maddux, he formed the back-side of one of the most formidable 1-2 punch in pitching history. From the left-side there was arguably none better in this era than Glavine. Another 300 game winner (although it did take him till he was 42 and into 23 seasons), Glavine was simply very good for a very long time. His WHIP was a little higher than you’d like to see from your typical hall of famer (his final five seasons were less than ideal), but five 20 win seasons, and six seasons of a sub 3.00 ERA are pretty solid. Throw in your requisite 2 Cy Youngs and 10 all star games and I am sold.

Frank Thomas: The big hurt was one of the most fearsome hitters in baseball for a long, long time that you forget sometimes how dominant a 10 year stretch he started in the early 1990s. Thomas was never implicated in any steroid controversy so he passes the smell test. Plus, his enormous stature existed from day 1 when he joined the league so there were no obvious suspicions to sway the voters. I mean he debuted in major league baseball 4 years after the Seoul Olympics, so this was obviously before a steroid era. Thomas had the statistics to back up his hall of fame credentials. Two MVPs, 500+ home runs, 1700+ rbi, he walked over 100 times seemingly every year and had 11 seasons of 100+ rbi, including one with 143. He even had a cup of coffee with the Jays for a few years. Enough for me! He’s on my ballot.

 Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza is borderline to make it in. Currently, he stands at approximately 71% of the vote with 25% reporting. He needs to make up 4% more. Piazza is the best hitting catcher, not only of our generation, but maybe ever. His defence and game-calling has never been considered great, however his offensive skills more than make up for it. The only thing holding Piazza back are the amateur dermatologists that belong to the baseball writers association. You see back acne is a sign of steroid use and apparently he had a lot of it. So, while he has never failed a drug test or implicated in a scandal, he remains on the cusp of not getting in. He is however close enough that he will likely one day make it in one day. I’m just not sure if this year is going to be the year. It should take the best offensive catcher ever three years to make it in, right?  Which leads me to my next two votes who won’t make it in.

Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens:

The statistics Barry Bonds put up may never be duplicated. You can go up and down his stat lines and find something that will amaze you. Forget his home run total (highest single season and most career), his slugging, his OBP, his OPS, whatever initials you make a statistic out of he dominated. Just check out how many times he walked and where those walks sit on the career list. Then cross reference that with how many of those were intentional. Pitchers just refused to face him. He was that good. He deservedly won 7 MVP awards and had hall of fame statistics even if his career ended before he allegedly started juicing. Plus, he used the same wedding photographer as me!  It’s going to be tough for Barry to ever get into the Hall as he sits with approximately 40% of the vote for the second straight year.

Roger Clemens set the benchmark for pitching. 24 years, 4 twenty win seasons, 354 wins (1 less than Maddux), 4672 strikeouts (3^rd all-time), 7 Cy-Youngs including two in the magical two years he pitched for the Blue Jays. He was someone you paid to see, but again, there is no place in the Hall for him as he teeters around 40% of the vote.

Tim Raines: If not for Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines would be considered the greatest lead-off hitter of all time. If not for spending most of his career in Montreal, Raines would likely be given legendary status. He is one of a few players remaining on the ballot that I may have been a touch too young to witness some of his greatest years. But watching Expo games with my grandfather, a die-hard fan, I appreciated his greatness and he was one of the best in the early years I started following this game. I’ve seen many a comparison to Tony Gwynn who flew into the hall of fame on his first try (deservedly). It’s just a shame that it’s taking Raines this long to get his recognition – which will likely have to wait yet another year. He currently sits at 60%

 Jeff Bagwell (64%): If you have to re-look at the numbers to remind yourself how great someone is, maybe that should be reason enough not to vote him in. However, Jeff Bagwell earns a spot on my ballot. He spent years of playing consistent top-notch baseball. You could pencil him in for 30+ homers, 100+ rbi and 100+ walks, a feat he did for 8 straight seasons. Bagwell suffers from the fact that he didn’t have the career numbers that some other hall of fame hitters do (he didn’t stretch his career 20+ years), but his stolen base total (over 200) was among the best for his position as well. He got his MVP, ROY, gold glove and now my vote. Bagwell also suffers from the “he looks like he was on steroids” test, which is apparently a thing.

Larry Walker (10%): Yes, I admit this one is a bit sentimental as I am feeling some patriotic pride in giving this Canadian legend a spot on my ballot. But, it is not underserving. He was your pro-typical five tool player; the one they write about in magazines. He can hit for average and power, run, steal and throw. He invented the myth about the Denver air. While it is popular to devalue his stats by playing half his games in Colorado for most of his career, the evidence to me is at best circumstantial. A great hitter is a great hitter no matter where he plays. His 383 career homers is a bit low, but it’s offset by a career .313 batting average and 230 stolen bases. You can also add in 7 gold gloves, 1 MVP and a ROY (rookie of the year) award and he narrowly passes the bar I set for the hall of fame.

Curt Schilling (40%): I never liked Curt Schilling, but maybe that was because he was so good and I never wanted to face him. He played for a lot of bad teams, so suffers from some Bert Blyleven syndrome whereby his win total doesn’t do him justice. However, he was one the most pre-eminent power pitchers of our time, posting your requisite 3000+ strikeouts. He didn’t make the post-season often but when he did he made it count with three rings to his credit including one MVP.

Honorable Mentions:

Had I had more room on my ballot (there is a limit of 10), I would have awarded more votes. My arguably silly Larry Walker vote bumps Mark McGwire and Craig Biggio off my ballot for this year. I don’t really know how you have a hall of fame without Mark as he was the first true power hitter that I can remember. Every time he came up, I thought he was going to hit a home run.  His career stats (aside from his batting average) also measure up and are clearly hall worthy. As for Craig Biggio, like Jeff Bagwell, if you have to look up the stats to remember how good he was, then maybe he shouldn’t be in. His career numbers are enough, but I never really remember him as being the best of an era. For that reason, I feel comfortable leaving him off this year. He will likely get in this year as he is tracking at close to 80%. I am not uncomfortable with him getting the nod. It would have been nice last year though when I was there.

This will be the final year Jack Morris will formally appear on the ballot. He looks like he will come up just short, tracking at around 60%. He is a lightning rod of controversy between new age statistics and old age, where his stats don’t seem to measure up to what we think we remember him as. For all those that argue Jack should get in, Mike Mussina is actually a better Jack Morris than Jack Morris. I think Mussina should be in one day, but the ballot is going to be far too crowded the next few years for him to make it in.

Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to Fred McGriff. What an awesome career. I feel horrible that I left him off my ballot this year. Maybe I will swap him with Larry Walker next year for my final sentimental slot. Just hoping Fred gets his requisite 5% and stays on the ballot another year.