I am a Hall of Fame voter.
With that responsibility, I believe, comes many other titles. But definitely not plenty others.
I am a judge, but not a cop, an agent of vengeance or a babysitter. I don’t conduct my own investigation into players’ alleged performance-enhancing drug usage, nor do I seek to right past wrongs or protect “clean” players. If, and only if, baseball has punished someone for a violation, then I will factor that punishment into a candidacy.
I am an analyst, but not an anthropologist. I’m very interested in gathering as much statistical data as I can find, especially those that define a player in the context of his era. I’m not interested in knowing what his contemporaries thought of him.
I am a journalist and neither a fan nor a strategist. I must utilize personal observations and memories of the candidates judiciously, if at all, understanding that my eyewitness snapshot shouldn’t overshadow the entire body of work. My ballot reflects my top 10 choices. I’m not worried about who needs my support and who doesn’t.
With this job description in mind, here’s how I filled out my 2014 ballot, in alphabetical order:
Jeff Bagwell: He’s one of the top all-time offensive first basemen, with a ridiculous 149 OPS-plus (meaning he was 49 percent better than the average National League hitter of his time).
Barry Bonds: The home run king, both all-time and single-season. A five-tool player, at least for the first half of his career. The U.S. government couldn’t prove he used illegal PEDs, and even if it had, he still would get my vote, as the commissioner’s office never nailed him.
Roger Clemens: Bonds’ fellow legend/outcast, his pitching equivalent in many ways, also outsmarted the Feds and also has a spotless official record. He’s in the conversation for best starting pitcher ever.
Tom Glavine: You might argue he’s the fifth-best starting pitcher on this ballot, yet that says everything about the depth of this ballot and nothing about the left-hander, who largely dominated during his 1991-2002 run with the Braves.
Greg Maddux: He’s the one guarantee to get elected on this ballot, and there’s no good reason why he shouldn’t get in unanimously. He has the dominance, the longevity and the record clear of allegations.
Mike Mussina: He spent his entire career in the ultra-dangerous AL East, first with Baltimore then with the Yankees, and he excelled. Mussina’s case is one of reality trumping perception. He pitched like an ace, even if he wasn’t always acknowledged as one.
Mike Piazza: He goes down as one of the top 10 catchers of all time and perhaps the best with the bat, and that matters more than if he ranks high enough in Wins Above Replacement among this group (he’s 16th at 59.2, according to Baseball-Reference.com). I made that embarrassing misevaluation last year and have corrected it.
Curt Schilling: Though he didn’t last as long as the other starting pitchers on his ballot, he accomplished plenty, especially when you also account for his 133 ¹/₃ stellar innings (2.23 ERA) in the postseason.
Frank Thomas: With 521 home runs and a .974 OPS in 10,075 plate appearances, he more than makes up for the lack of a well-rounded game.
Larry Walker: Even after you acknowledge that he benefited significantly from playing his home games in Coors Field for nearly 10 seasons, he still makes the cut by virtue of his 141 OPS-plus, which neutralizes the ballpark factor.
Apologies to: Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Tim Raines and Alan Trammell, all for whom I have voted in the past. I simply ran out of room this year on the maximum 10-player ballot, which the Baseball Writers Association of America will consider expanding.
You get caught, you get dinged: The candidacies of Rafael Palmeiro (failed drug test, 2005) and Sammy Sosa (corked bat, 2003) are damaged but not disqualified by their baseball convictions. On this crowded a ballot, they don’t come close.
Just not enough: Though Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Jack Morris and Lee Smith all put up terrific careers — and Morris and Smith drew my vote in the past until I changed my mind — they fall short of my Cooperstown meter. Kent and Mattingly lack longevity, while McGriff, Morris and Smith could use more dominance.
Thanks for stopping by: For everyone else here — Moises Alou, Sean Casey, Armando Benitez, Ray Durham, Eric Gagne, Luis Gonzalez, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Paul Lo Duca, Hideo Nomo, Kenny Rogers, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow and Mike Timlin — the honor is making the ballot.