Delgado should be in Hall of Fame
One look at his numbers and it becomes clear former Jays star is worthy of entry
On one of the most stacked ballots in Baseball Hall of Fame history, Carlos Delgado disappeared, almost without a trace.
A brilliant career pushed to the side, wiped clean without fairness, context or perspective.
The great Blue Jays power hitter — best in their history — received just 21 votes in 2015, not enough to get the necessary five per cent to stay on the ballot.
He finished 23rd in voting among eligible players that year.
Of those well ahead of him, four players were elected to the Hall in 2015 — Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio. All finished with at least 82 per cent yes votes.
But here’s where the ballot got challenging. Voters can only choose a maximum of 10 players in any year.
Other than the four elected from this ballot, eight more players, including Canadian Larry Walker, have since been elected to the Hall.
That’s 12 possible selections on a ballot in which the steroid kings, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, got more than 200 votes each and the bridesmaid, Curt Schilling, got 215 votes.
There was little room to vote for Delgado in a Hall of Fame that had already elected Jim
Rice and would later add Harold Baines from the Modern Baseball Era committee, even though you can easily argue Delgado’s career was better than both.
He out-homered Rice and Baines, 473 to 382 and 384, having played significantly fewer games. His career on-base percentage was .383 to .352 of Rice, .356 of Baines.
And his career OPS of .929 should really mean instant Hall of Fame entry — with Rice at
.854 and Baines at .820.
The .929 is just ahead of, get this — Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt and
Ken Griffey Jr., four of history’s greatest players. That’s more than elite company for Delgado.
That should be his calling card if he ever gets the second chance opportunity Baines received.
Delgado is only 47.
He belongs in the Hall of Fame. Getting there? Now that’s the challenge for him and for those on the Modern Era committee.
There are those who believe the new-age baseball statistics should place Dave Stieb in Hall of Fame contention. The voters didn’t see it that way in 2004, when he received only seven votes. Joe Carter got dropped from the same ballot: He got only 19 votes. Stieb had 11 very strong consecutive quality seasons for the Blue Jays. That should make him borderline Hall of Famer. He was dropped from the ballot in the year Paul Molitor was elected. Maybe he’ll get some kind of late consideration in time from the Modern Era folks, who voted Jack Morris after he came close after 15 years being eligible on the ballot ... The Blue Jays home opener was supposed to be this Thursday and I’m already missing baseball. The sound of it. The look of it. So if you’re home, like you’re supposed to be, here’s a short list of baseball books that will more than occupy your time: Ball Four by Jim Bouton; Summer of ’49 by David Halberstam; The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn; Five Seasons by Roger Angell; The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst; Moneyball by Michael Lewis; Ted Williams, The biography of an American Hero, by Leigh Montville;
Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof; Imperfect by Jim Abbott. Enjoy one of them or all of them.
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You have all your plans on computers and on paper and just about everywhere else. When are your playoffs? What are your playoffs? Where are your playoffs?
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