This Year's Candidates

Kenny will also mention a tidbit on this year's candidates:

Who should be in the Hall of Fame of this year's class?

Don Muttonly. If elected, Muttonly would possess the highest average (.318) of any Hall of Famer as well as the most doubles (513) of any HOFer. His .381 OBP would be the highest of any Modern HOFer. His RBIs, ABs, Hits and Walks are all above the average Hall Of Famer. His numbers fit in nicely.

Rico Cortez. You read that right. Rico's career reads like a Hall of Famer. His .289 average, 281 HRs, 1088 RBIs, 6157 ABs, 1780 Hits, 418 Doubles, 67 triples and .516 slugging are all higher than the AVERAGE Hall of Famer. In fact, his slugging average is higher than all but 2 Hall of Famers! (Optimus and Galvatron) If Rico isn't a Hall of Famer, than who is?

Pedro Santini. That's who. Pedro also boasts Hall of Famer numbers. His .291 average, 247 HRs, 1015 RBIs, 6917 ABs, 2,013 Hits, 399 doubles, 66 triples and .475 slugging are all better than the average Hall of Famer. It's tough to think of the Hall of Fame without Pedro.

Kirby Miller. .284, 244 HRs, 1138 RBIs, 7747 ABs, 2204 Hits, 448 doubles and 85 triples are all better than the average HOFer. In fact Kirby's 85 triples would rate as the best of any modern Hall of Famer.

Trivia. Who is the Hall of Famer?:

.269 AVG 254 HR 1012 RBI 6485 AB 1747 H 585 BB 6 SB 355 2B .330 OBP .443 SLG
.253 AVG 356 HR 1231 RBI 7233 AB 1832 H 1197BB 0 SB 394 2B .359 OBP .458 SLG

Oh and both played 3B. The top line is HOF 3rd baseman Alex Hansen. The bottom-line is Helmut Schmidt. Not an if-then argument. A complete destruction.

So, when thinking about your Hall of Fame votes, remember, this isn't Unforgiven. This is real life. Deserves got everything to do with it.

Hall of Fame Analysis

In the spirit of the up coming Hall of Fame announcement, Kenny thought Kenny would provide y'all with some insightful Hall of Fame analysis. Did you know:

The average Hall of Famer hit .284 in their career with 258 HRs, 919 RBIs with 1,639 Hits and 979 RBIs. They got on base at a .357 clip with a .471 slugging average. When Kenny filtered out ancient players and looked solely at the "Modern" Hall of Famers the numbers were surprisingly consistent. (Modern defined as elected after 1990) The average "Modern" Hall of Famer also hit .284, got on base a little less at .355 and slugged a little more at .473. The players hit more Homers with 258 (largely due to Galvatron) with more RBIs - 974 and more hits - 1,687. The modern Hall of Famer hit 300 doubles and 26 triples compared to 292 and 31 for the overall HOF average. The modern players also seem to run less with an average of 145 stolen bases versus 152 for the overall average.

Best Hall of Famer (hitters only)? Well, if you are a Babe Ruth fan, then the answer is the mighty Galvatron. His 545 HRs lead all Hall of Famers. As does his 1,644 RBIs, and 1,979 strikeouts. His 1,420 walks and .524 slugging lead all modern Hall of Famers. But if you find yourself in the Ty Cobb fanclub, then Scheherezade is the Cobb of APBA. With a .311 average to lead all Hall of Famers, what Scheherezade lacked in power was made up for in hustle. 2,556 hits, 533 SBs and 112 triples lead all current Hall of Famers.

But for all you current players reading this. You are probably asking yourself, "That's great Kenny. But where is the door? How does one get into the Hall of Fame?" Well, Kenny has already given you the averages. Do those and you are on your way. But at the low end of the list reside Hall of Famers like Bo Supreme. But don't let Bo's stats fool you. His contributions to the game should not be ignored. Bo is an innovator as one of the game's best strategists who has been copied more times than one can count. His manager would often ask Bo to manage when he had to take a whiz. Ray Brooks grew up idolizing Bo. But Bo is where to begin when looking at entry. Less than this, then forget it. You won't even have an argument. You won't even enter into the conversation. Bo's 341 RBIs, 616 Hits, 5 SBs, 68 doubles and 1 triple are the least of all Hall of Famers. Of course, Bo was also a catcher. But Bo is not alone. Of the "Modern" Hall of Famers, Jose Ramirez sets the bar. His 25 Homers and .343 are, by far, the least of any Hall of Famer. His 470 RBIs are also the least of any Modern HOFer. Kenny suspects Jose's defense had something to do with his election.

So, when you are playing, remember, the Hall of Fame requires greatness; not necessarily great stats, sometimes a great story will do just fine.

Oh and for the record. Kenny thinks Drummond belongs in the Hall of Fame. His is a story that is Hall of Fame worthy.

Hall of Fame votes

The time has come to vote for our new army of immortals. You can find stats for the players on this year's ballots here. In addition, there is a great player injustly left off of the ballot, and you can learn more about him here.

Rugless Odor is on the ballot for the 3rd time. He was a fine defensive shortstop who hit .315 or better in 5 of his first 6 seasons, had over 2200 career hits, and led the 1994 Rugrats to the world series.

Among the new players:

Kirby Miller had over 2200 career hits, 244 homers, and played his entire career on Mars. He is the alltime fan favorite of the Eyebiters and had his best season in 1998, hitting .328 with 29 homers and 127 RBI. He played center field early in his career before moving to right.

Helmut Schmidt was one of the cornerstones of the great Louisville Slugger teams of the 1990's. At third base he provided strong defense (4 gold gloves), power (356 homeruns) and strong on-base skills (4 100 walk years with a high of 130). He compares favorably to the 3rd basemen who have been elected to the Hall.

Don Muttonly is one of the greatest undrafted players in history. He won 4 world series rings with the mighty Ute teams, usually hitting 3rd between Lou Zamuda and Conan. He was a career .318 hitter and one of the greatest defensive 1st basemen of all time ,winning 8 gold gloves. After leaving Utah, he helped the Florida Penguins reach 2 world series and had his best season in 2000, hitting .350 with 19 homeruns and 107 RBI.

Pedro Santini was a great offensive second baseman in his early years, hitting .343 in 1996. His range declined quickly, and he played more at 1st and 3rd towards the latter part of his career.

Zeke Morris started as a power hitting shortstop. He helped the Devils to the world series in 1994, and hit a career high 28 homeruns the next year. He did not have the range to remain at short past his mid 20's, and later became a 3rd baseman and utility infielder.

Speedy Todd Reynolds teamed with Eric Nixon to spark the running game for the 1992-1993 world champion Stars. He was a competent but unspectacular shortstop, and stole 438 bases in his career.

Robert Maison was the catcher for those same Miami ballclubs, and provided power behind the plate with 288 lifetime homers. He was not considered a top defender behind the plate.

Rico Cortez had the season of a lifetime in 1996, hitting .392 for the mighty world champion Utes at age 24. He never lived up to the promise of that season again, but had some solid years with the bat, driving in at least 100 runs each year from 1999 to 2003. He was known more for his bat than his glove. A fine looking player, Rico was very popular with the ladies in Utah for their "Marry a Ute" night promotions.

Mario Joyner was your classic line drive hitting, strong defensive left handed hitters at 1st base. His best season was with the 1994 Shockers, who under Boba Fett won 91 games for a division title. That year he hit .320 with 114 RBI. Mario won 3 gold gloves.

Scott May started his career as a rare speedy catcher, stealing 14 bases each of his first two seasons. The demands of catching quickly robbed him of his speed, but he began hitting the ball harder in his later years, in 2001 he hit .335 with 21 homers and 98 RBI.

Wes Gibson, as a fielder, was born to DH. He provided strong lefthanded power for over a decade, but was often platooned, never reaching 500 at bats after his rookie season.

Grant Gilliam seemed hopeless with the bat in his rookie year, hitting .231 and showing no power, limited plate discipline, and only average speed. He improved with the bat, becoming a tough out at the bottom of the lineup and hitting over .300 twice. He played for three world championship teams, and made his contribution with defense.

Gilliam never won a gold glove, as he played in the same league as Lou Zamuda, but in the 1999 world series, billed as the final millenial battle of good vs evil pitting the Autobots against the Decepticons, Gilliam shined with the glove on the national stage, making so many great plays in the Autobot's series victory that he was named world series MVP.

You can view current Hall of Fame members here.