Sunday, March 13, 2011

My votes for the HOF - in order

Omar Nixon. A no-brainer. 627 HRs. Career OPS north of 1.000. Highly decorated with 7 All Star Games, 3 MVPs and 4 WS titles. Played whole career for Erff. Our top candidate.

Mitchell Ray. Another Erff player from the glory days in Cincy. saved 450+ games with a nearly 90% efficiency rating. Great playoff performer with 27 saves. Eight All Star Games, 5 times the NL's best closer and 4 WS rings.

Dwight Johnson. During first 10 seasons, established himself as arguably the most successful pitcher in the entire League. Came into League with legendary season - a 20-1 mark, Rookie of Year, Cy Young and a WS title. Won WS rings with three different teams. Won 224 games overall, 6-time All-Star and 4 WS rings. Nearly 300 playoff innings pitched with 18 wins.

William Hernandez. First 10 seasons were legendary. Final offensive numbers were tremendous with more than 2,200 hits and nearly 500 HRs. Four time All-Star, also won an MVP and WS ring.

Ramon Dong. Perhaps the best player with the lowest profile. His 6 All-Star games rank among the 5 most in the League. Nearly 2,400 hits, putting him the League's top 10. Career averages (per 162 games) of .326, 21 HR, 100 RBI and an astonishing 125 runs. Won a World Series, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. Playoff OPS north of 1.000 in more than 225 ABs.

Toughest omission: Bryan McDowell. His reign among the League's elite closers was short, but overwhelming. Six times the AL's top Fireman and a seven-time All-Star. Career WHIP (1.13) and ERA (2.92) underscore career dominance. A truly dominant postseason performer. I leave him off the list because closer numbers, in my view, should be overwhelming, and he is a full 100 saves shy of Ray (not to mention Vinny Post). Dong, Hernandez and Johnson all had longer runs as elite performers. He may get my vote next season.

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