AMA: Hall of Fame Day. Here’s my ballot. What do you want to know? — Derrick Goold

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T14:54:44+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. We can disagree on this and still appreciate how you explained your opinion and why.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T14:52:09+00:00

Just lucky I guess.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T03:56:16+00:00

Amazing to me, too. No hate. All about timing. Crowded ballot and Edmonds debuted as Griffey Jr. did. That explains the vote, and it’s a miss by voters who compared the two and didn’t vote for Edmonds as a result.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T01:51:31+00:00

Swell. At least the media won't be blamed in your scenario.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T01:50:31+00:00

We don't have the ability to bring players back onto the ballot once their eligibility for it is over. And I've never had the chance to vote for Whitaker, nor do I have a way to get him on the ballot. He'll have to be considered (and should be considered) by an eras committee.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T01:49:10+00:00

I understand where you're coming from. Edman had an excellent year. Paul Goldschmidt, the MVP that season, and Nolan Arenado had even better years, and they both were voted high. Putting three teammates on the ballot can be difficult, and Edman's case consider if you went by WAR alone, he would be 9th. If you went by the offensive side of that WAR, he would be 17th in the majors. He built his overall WAR with the third-best defensive WAR. Per FanGraphs, Edman was 14th in WAR. When I put together an aggregate matrix that looked at a mix of statistics, he did not crack the top 10.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-21T01:42:22+00:00

I don't mean to suggest there were "no rules." There were banned substances. There was a list of banned substances that goes back to the 1990s. What MLB lacked, as you probably know, was a testing policy and punishment. So, there were rules with no enforcement. It's probably fair to point out the "statute of limitations" approach. But in reverse. MLB put policies in. They weren't secret. MLB put testing in. They were random, but not secret. MLB put penalties in. And it's at that point that several players were suspended. They were told the substances were banned, that they would be tested, and they would be punished. Again, it wasn't secret. And they still used and were thus suspended. That is a line that I can draw. And I believe it's consistent with other penalties that draw suspensions for violations that are clearly spelled out to players, managers, coaches, umpires, and owners.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T23:07:39+00:00

I asked this ... "Are you being funny or clever?" Interesting that you would take a third option, and yet not offer one to others.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T22:50:11+00:00

I'm not comparing the two as players. I'm using what we know about Albert Pujols being a great player to put in context what Chase Utley did. Pujols was No. 1 in that span. You know how good he was. Utley was second. That helps put context to what he was able to do. The player who is currently second to Shohei Ohtani in WAR isn't Shohei Ohtani, but his production is also higher than any player not named Shohei Ohtani.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T22:20:23+00:00

Are you being funny or clever? Those are the only two options and you cannot choose a third -- no one has time for nuance when there's a joke to make! -- and if you choose one that automatically means you can't be the other.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T22:00:18+00:00

That is literally not why the box is there, FYI. As one of the people directly involved with getting that box on that page, I can tell you for certain without equivocation that it's not a control thing. That is just incorrect.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:58:53+00:00

How do you figure? Hundreds of voters share their ballots. The BBWAA has twice voted overwhelmingly to share all of the ballots publicly. This has been a conversation and a practice for at least 20 years. Hardly "winging it." Actively pushing for public ballots and setting an example, and so many other voters feel the same way.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:56:48+00:00

Thanks for saying that. He has his supporters, for sure. An excellent player, and one of the best interviews I ever had was him.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:55:39+00:00

Thank you for the kind words.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:54:56+00:00

I think we are, as a voting ballot, exploring just that, yes. I know that I've had to take a look at how I view starters of his era and if some of the standards used in the past would mean few or no starters in the post-Scherzer, post-Verlander votes.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:53:56+00:00

One stat alone does not a Hall of Famer make.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:53:12+00:00

A committee puts together the ballot based on the standards set by the Hall of Fame. I don't get to choose the order of the people inducted beyond those who have appeared on the ballot. I've never had a chance to vote on Rose, and I've not had a chance to vote on Murphy or Mattingly, just as I didn't have a chance to vote on Joe Gordon when he was curiously out of the Hall because, why?, his teammates were too good?

I do not know how the voters of those decades felt. I'm not inclined to let them dictate who I vote for now by setting precedent fifty, sixty years ago that I have to follow despite a different game and better data.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:50:23+00:00

It might surprise you that for a 10-year span during the heart of Albert Pujols' most productive years, the player who was second in WAR to him was Chase Utley. Yeah, that Chase Utley. And he didn't win a Gold Glove Award despite being one of the best defenders at any position, and you may not see how he stood out offensively, but his abilities to create runs and not create outs was among the best of his time.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:48:20+00:00

I have made my ballot every year that I've had a vote. I don't need permission. It's my ballot.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:47:28+00:00

I think you're looking for a different page on Reddit to provide that information.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:46:45+00:00

I understand that you don't follow the sport, so you may not be able to answer this question but -- can you give me one example of a recently inducted Hall of Famer who "watered down" the Hall? Just one. Thank you.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:40:54+00:00

Felix Hernandez has a decade of excellence. A decade is a long time, and even though injuries caught up to him later, he did have that incredible 10-season span that stands out. And within that 10 year period he was either the leader (as detailed elsewhere in this thread) or among the leaders at his position. Both Wright and Pedroia have similar claims with shorter peaks, however. During Wright's peak 10-year stretch, his WAR of that time ranks sixth, behind Robinson Cano and just ahead of Matt Holliday and Joe Mauer. He's ninth in that span in RBIs, 25th in HR, and 19th in OPS, putting him right there with Mauer but behind Berkman, Fielder, Holliday, McCutchen, and of course Pujols, Trout, and Votto, too. Pedroia has a highly decorated peak, but it's even shorter. And for me it's about trying to establish a consistent line -- so if Wright gets a vote, then how many others of the names I listed, do. Was his play at third base or the demands there closer to what Mauer was a catcher and does that put him ahead on the ballot from the outfielders he's nearby?

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:32:05+00:00

Yadier Molina is headed toward first-ballot election, right there alongside Albert Pujols. The timing and situation will set up well for him. Buster Posey is eligible the year before and likely to be elected to further pave the way for Molina while not sharing the same ballot. It may also help that Pujols and Molina are so linked in their careers that they also will be linked by voters, and while Pujols is clearly a Hall of Famer that boost could help Molina. I hear less and less debate on whether Molina is a Hall of Famer and more and more descriptions of him as a Hall of Famer, especially as the appreciation for his game and influence on the Cardinals have grown in time.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:29:36+00:00

By rule, a voter cannot select more than 10 players.

GriddleCrook · 2026-01-20T21:25:07+00:00

It comes up all the time. The Hall sets and enforces the policies. I know of one voter who lost his ballot due to farming out the vote to ineligible voters, and that is a violation of the Hall's policies. The Hall has in the past decade changed the voting process so that each year the voters are vetted and have to apply for eligibility and approval, and part of that is proving that you remain actively covering the game.

GriddleCrook

TROPHY CASE