PHILS PHACTS:
Once again, beat reporter Todd Zolecki
answers Phillies fans' questions including whether or not the team should be
fishing in the free agent pool or focusing on taking the floaties off of their
young talent. The full Q&A can be read/watched here.
An Interesting HOF Ballot This Year – Under
new voting rules established this summer by the National Baseball Hall of Fame,
the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot was released Monday
on the earliest date in recent history. Ken Griffey Jr. and his 630 homers and Trevor Hoffman and his
National League-record 601 saves are the top candidates among a bevy of
first-time qualifiers for the Class of 2016. Billy Wagner, who had 422 saves in
16 seasons for five teams, is another significant new name on the ballot. Mike
Piazza (69.9 percent of the vote last year), Jeff Bagwell (55.7 percent) and
Tim Raines (55 percent) are the returnees with the best chances of being
elected this time around. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on
July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Griffey was selected first overall as a
17-year-old in the 1987 Draft and went on to play his first 13 seasons for the
Mariners, ending his 22-year career with them in 2010. He batted .284 and
produced 1,836 RBIs. Along the way, Griffey played parts of nine seasons with
the Reds and part of one with the White Sox before returning to the Mariners
for the final two. Griffey was a four-time American League home run champion,
hitting 56 homers in back-to-back seasons in 1997-98, and he won the AL MVP
Award in '97 and was a 13-time All-Star. Griffey would be both the first
Mariner and the first No. 1 overall Draft pick to be inducted. "I am truly
honored and humbled to be associated with these people here," Griffey said
when he was inducted into the Mariners' Hall of Fame in 2013. "I may have sometimes
been standoffish; I didn't mean to. I just wanted to play baseball. That's the
only thing that mattered: playing and winning ballgames for this team. I want
to thank all of you, and the Mariners organization, for letting me be part of
something special. I just want to say thank you." Hoffman would be the
third player to go into the Hall with an interlocking SD on his plaque. Dave
Winfield and the late Tony Gwynn are the others. Hoffman had a 2.87 ERA and 61
wins in 1,035 games, plus a career-high 53 saves in 54 opportunities for a 1998
Padres club that lost to the Yankees in the World Series. "I know it would
be a nice little bow tie if it would happen and to have the All-Star Game in
San Diego the same year," Hoffman, who pitched 16 of his 18 big league
seasons for the Padres, said in noting that the Midsummer Classic is to be
played at Petco Park on July 12. "That would be amazing." Among the
other newcomers on the latest ballot are Garret Anderson, David Eckstein, Jim
Edmonds, Luis Castillo, Troy Glaus, Mike Lowell and Mike Sweeney. The BBWAA
ballot announcement commences the Hall of Fame voting season that includes
elections by the 16-member Pre-Integration Committee and nominees for the Ford
C. Frick Award and the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, all slated to be unveiled at
the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., from Dec. 7-10. This year's version of
the Veterans Committee will vote on six players, three executives and an
organizer who were all active in baseball prior to Jackie Robinson breaking
Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. The Frick Award voters will pick
a baseball announcer who was a pioneer during that same period. The BBWAA
honors a writer with the Spink Award for meritorious contributions to the
baseball writing profession. The new rules for the BBWAA ballot winnowed the
rolls by about 125 voters, a Hall official said. While 625 ballots were sent
out last year, about 475 were put in the mail on Monday. The ballots
historically had been mailed just prior to Thanksgiving and had to be returned
by New Year's Day. Voters will now have until Dec. 24 to mail their ballots. The
results are to be revealed on MLB Network on Jan. 6, with a news conference
involving any of the electees to be held the following day. In the past, all
members of the BBWAA with more than 10 consecutive years of membership received
a ballot. Under the new rules passed in July by the Hall's board of directors,
members who have not actively been a member of the BBWAA for 10 years must
apply every year for their ballot. The Hall then determines by the number of
games an applicant covered in the previous season whether to issue a ballot. As
always, a candidate must have his name written on 75 percent of the ballots to
be elected, and the electorate can vote for as many as 10 players. In another
change, the Hall will release a roster of all voters, but not how they voted.
It's up to each individual whether to release his or her ballot. The BBWAA was
established in 1908 and has been voting players into the Hall of Fame since
elections began in 1936. It remains to be seen what kind of impact a smaller
group of voters will have on the election. In the last election, 549 ballots
were cast and a player needed 412 votes to be elected. Piazza, now in his
fourth year on the ballot, fell 38 votes short last year. Bagwell and Raines
fell 106 and 110 votes short, respectively. Returnees Curt Schilling (39.2
percent), Roger Clemens (37.5), Barry Bonds (36.8) and Mike Mussina (24.6) are
much further out. Like Piazza, Schilling, Bonds and Clemens are in their fourth
year of eligibility. Others who received sufficient support to remain on the
ballot for 2016 are first basemen Fred McGriff and Mark McGwire; second baseman
Jeff Kent; third baseman-designated hitter Edgar Martinez; infielder Nomar
Garciaparra; and outfielders Larry Walker, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa. Another
rule change seriously affects Raines, who is going into his ninth and
next-to-last year on the BBWAA ballot. In the past, BBWAA eligibility was for
as long as 15 years, but the Hall shortened that period by five years in 2014,
grandfathering in three players who were already in the 11- to 15-year range:
Don Mattingly, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell. It is also McGwire's final year on
the ballot. Mattingly's BBWAA eligibility ended with the last ballot. On this
one, Trammell is in his 15th and final year and Smith his 14th. Smith received
30.2 percent of the vote and Trammell 25.1 percent last time. A player must
reach at least a five-percent threshold to be carried over to the next ballot
until his 10 years of eligibility expires. The ballot: Garret Anderson,
Brad Ausmus, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Luis Castillo, Roger Clemens, David
Eckstein, Jim Edmonds, Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Glaus, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark
Grudzielanek, Mike Hampton, Trevor Hoffman, Jason Kendall, Jeff Kent, Mike
Lowell, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Mike Piazza,
Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Lee Smith, Sammy Sosa, Mike
Sweeney, Alan Trammell, Billy Wagner, Larry Walker, Randy Winn.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL
East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and
bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in
franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.
