Kevin Gorman: My 1st Hall of Fame ballot a vote for best players available

Voting for the Hall of Fame for the first time was an exercise I found to be more challenging than expected, mostly because I didn’t expect to have a Hall of Fame ballot until it arrived in late November.

As a 10-year member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, I became eligible to vote for the first time this year. But I didn’t realize I was eligible until asked whether I wanted to vote.

Before this year, my first as the Trib’s Pirates beat writer, I covered baseball as a columnist. So I’m far from a seamhead. And, so it seems, this process had my head spinning.

There’s a difference between having an opinion on the Hall of Fame and having a vote. I long believed that the Hall was only for the very best of the best, but that stance has softened with some recent inductees. I also have advocated for Dave Parker, who had a remarkable five-year run as one of the greatest all-around players and the longevity to go with it.

And I was conflicted by how to handle voting for players whose statistical cases were strengthened by the likely use of performance-enhancing drugs. MLB long turned a blind eye to the cheating, but baseball writers are expected to protect the integrity of the game?

I don’t believe the steroid cheats deserve automatic admission into the Hall, so I wouldn’t vote for one in his first year of eligibility. I also am in favor of having their plaque include their indiscretions, whether they are for performance-enhancing issues or off-field incidents. Put an asterisk next to their numbers, if you want.

But I’m voting for the players I believe are the best on the ballot. And they gave me 10 votes, so I used all of them. I checked boxes for Barry Bonds, Mark Buehrle, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa and Billy Wagner. Five pitchers and five position players.

Bonds was on pace for the Hall of Fame before he hired Greg Anderson as his trainer in 1998 and became embroiled in the BALCO scandal. Bonds was a three-time MVP by 1993 who hit 374 home runs from 1986-97. That his numbers improved over the next 10 seasons — a .314 batting average and 388 homers — led to Bonds passing Hank Aaron’s home run record. Not only did Bonds hit 762 homers, he also drew 2,557 walks (688 intentional), almost 500 more than Babe Ruth.

Clemens is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner and won two Triple Crowns, 354 games (one fewer than Greg Maddux) and posted 4,672 strikeouts. He was a dominant power pitcher long before he used steroids in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Schilling received 70% of the vote last year, just 20 votes shy of election, and was another shoo-in. He was 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA and three 20-win seasons but was dominant in the postseason (11-2, 2.23) and was a World Series MVP.

That’s why I couldn’t ignore the careers of dominant hitters like Ramirez (555 homers), Sheffield (509) and Sosa (609). Ramirez and Sheffield won batting titles. Sosa has the weakest case of any player I voted for, but I couldn’t ignore his being the only player with three 60-homer seasons.

Where those three got in on their bats, Rolen made his case with his glove. Only Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt won more Gold Gloves at third than Rolen, who had eight in 17 seasons. He’s one of seven third basemen with 300-plus homers (316) and an OPS-plus of 120 or higher (122).

Not only does Billy Wagner rank sixth all-time in saves (422) but his .187 batting-average against and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings are the best ever, and his 2.31 ERA ranks second only to Mariano Rivera among pitchers who have tossed 750 innings. Rivera, Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman opened the Hall door for relievers like Wagner.

Pettitte and Buehrle are interesting. Pettitte won 256 games, including two 20-win seasons, and pitched on five World Series teams but was caught up in the PED scandal. Buehrle won 214 games, threw 200-plus innings for 14 consecutive seasons (and had another with 198 2/3), led the White Sox to a World Series, threw a perfect game in 2007 and a no-hitter in ’09 and won four Gold Gloves.

There’s also this: It’s Buehrle’s first year of eligibility, so he needs at least 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot. I believe he’s Hall-worthy, so I checked the box for Buehrle.

And I struggled with bypassing Jeff Kent, who has the most homers by a second baseman (377); Todd Helton, a career .316 hitter who won a batting title by hitting .372 in 2000; and Andruw Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove winner in center who hit 434 homers but faded once he hit 30.

The one thing I trust is my eyes, and these players passed that test when it was time for me to vote. Maybe in the future I’ll be more discerning with my ballot and only vote for select players. Maybe I’ll use all 10 votes every year. That’s the challenge.

At least now I know what to expect.