A sneak peek into my ballot for my league’s Hall of Fame

In the Illowa APBA League, it’s time for our annual IAL Hall of Fame vote.  We started our Hall of Fame back in 1996 when IAL legends Mike Schmidt (career numbers 535 HR, 1468 rbi, 1400 runs) and Steve Carlton (214-148, 3.50 ERA, 2506 K) were obvious charter members.

Since then, we’ve inducted 18 more including luminaries such as Rod Carew, Gary Carter, Joe Carter, Mark McGwire. and Orel Hershiser.  Even Barry Bonds (we simply couldn’t ignore 655 HR, 2060 runs and 1709 rbis). 

Our rules for the Hall of Fame selection are simple.  A one-year waiting period after retirement is required before nomination.  A two-thirds majority is necessary to be inducted.  If a player receives five votes, he can be voted on the next year. 

Here is our ballot for this year:

Before I tell you who I voted for (and who I didn’t vote for), let me say this.  The first thing I look at for hitters are runs and rbis.  Any hitter who racked up 1000+ in both category is looking good to me. 

I know, stat freaks are recoiling in horror because those are situational statistics.  That may be but I don’t look at averages so much since our league has historically been a pitching-rich one.  The same can be said in reverse about pitchers. 

Of course, like real baseball, there’s more than stats.  What player carried a team and if a player really had a difference on a playoff team. 

We have seven votes to use but I make it a point never to feel obligated to use all of them unless it is warranted.  This year, I used just four votes. 

Those four votes went to:

Dennis Eckersley

He would be the first pitcher with a losing record but you and I know that’s not where his value lies.  Not only was he a quality starter, he turned into a fantastic reliever in the second half of his career.  He accumulated 208 saves and 2100 strikeouts.

Larry Walker

Productive hitter all-around plus great fielder to boot.  He knocked 407 dingers, drove in 1343 and scored 1364 runs.  Six 100+ rbi seasons.  Hitting .291 over a career in our league is quite a feat.  Hit 56 homers in 1996.

Robbie Alomar

This vote is contingent on whether Alomar spit on an Illowa APBA League umpire.  Let’s assume for his sake he didn’t. 

Alomar has the advantage of being a middle infielder with a decent glove, having good speed (462 SB) and even a bit of pop (215 HR).  This translated into some good numbers (1503 runs and a surprising 965 rbis). 

Ozzie Smith

Finally, since Ozzie was a long time player of mine, this is my sentimental vote.  It does come with some merit however.  Don’t look at his .249 batting average, that’s not where is value is.  I don’t need to tell anyone about Smith’s glovework. 

Smith does come with some offensive goodies too.  His 589 stolen bases is fourth all-time in our league and 1245 runs scored ain’t bad either.

Those are my votes submitted today to our vice-president.  I’ll let you know what comes of it. 

Go Ozzie!