Comments about a fictional HOF ballot

On the heels of the card bloggers fleshing out the players they believe should be Hall of Famers and maybe guys who shouldn't get there this year or ever - here are the 10 players on my 'what if I had a HOF vote' ballot.

Likely going in

Chipper Jones - judging from of his tweets, this guy is literally a no-brainer as far as a guy going into the Hall of Fame, but he was the golden boy prospect who became a good ol' boy for the Atlanta Braves for years.

Besides being a franchise legend, there is also a little 'fame' involved when he embraced the idea of playing in New York and being jeered by opposing teammates in the biggest city - there was a sense that he played for the moment, besides just being some bumpkin.

Jim Thome - I wouldn't give him credit for a 'clean' slugger who played in the steroid era, but the fact is that he has no such PED taint and he gets credit for a guy who wouldn't look out of place as an old-timey slugger from the 1950s-1960s.

Vladimir Guerrero - I loved him for years as an Angel with his ability to see ball, crush ball wherever it was pitched, he is 'my guy' as far as the guys who will probably be inducted.

Trevor Hoffman - because of the debate about the merits of a closer for the Hall of Fame, there is some doubt for every guy looking to get in Cooperstown as a short reliever.

Hoffman has been a guy who has snuck up as far as guy going in, but I could see where he just did his job for years where it's just enough - though he wasn't simply a one franchise guy, he probably gets credit for being with the San Diego Padres all of the years he was with the team.

Six others I'm dwelling on - all have some sort of PED taint and while I don't like the idea of the Steroid Era as an unsavory time for players doing all sorts of things to get over, all I can do is suspect whether a player did something, as opposed to penalize any number of them outright.

Barry Bonds - I loved the show he put on late in his career and obviously a no doubter if he wasn't the face of the PED taint; he was a perpetual a-hole, but at least it wasn't like he was trying to put on a public face; he had a certain arrogance, a certain confidence that made him more of a fascinating figure.

Roger Clemens - he was as much of an a-hole as Bonds was and maybe it's partly due to the rage but he was a little more accommodating to the media, so I still don't think he was as villified; the only thing odd is his late career surges in his late 30s through early 40s should be more suspect as a 'gotcha' if the everyone and their mother was doing it with Bonds' late career power surges.

Manny Ramirez - he's the guy who failed multiple tests and the writers didn't like the 'Manny being Manny' antics in the first place, but he was a great hitter that I'd probably pick him over Larry Walker though the experts would say Walker had the ability to be a 5-tool player [could hit for average, hit for power, field run, throw] while Ramirez was just kind of self-centered tool.

Gary Sheffield - he probably doesn't get the support because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, but I'd probably pick him over Edgar Martinez; last I checked Sheffield has more than 200 home runs on 'Gar' and while the experts would probably throw the 'bad fielder' juju on Sheffield, at least he took the field over a guy who collected the bulk of his numbers as a DH.

Sammy Sosa - no pity parties for Sosa here, but after Bonds and Clemens are inducted, maybe there is some consideration for Sosa; from raw athlete to city icon to pariah, Sosa has come full circle but there doesn't seem to be any let up, any thaw for a guy who slugged 609 home runs and was once the toast of baseball.

My notable omissions would be Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina and maybe Billy Wagner - at some point, Schilling is going into the HOF on his on field accomplishments, but bless his heart, I have no problem making him wait for as long as he will have to.

Fairfield Company 100 card jumbo pack - a recap

I actually don't know why I bought these cards - except I'm a glutton for scrap cardboard delights and I wanted to be reminded of the days when Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Score and Upper Deck printed up way too many cards for public consumption.

Part One
1988 Topps U.K. Kirby Puckett #57

1989 Topps Bazooka Jose Canseco #5 of 22 - I'm pretty sure these cards were inserted one per box of Bazooka gum and the one I pulled 21 years ago was Chris Sabo.
1988 Topps Jack Howell #631
1988 Topps Len Dykstra #655
1988 Topps Gary Redus #657
1988 Topps Mike Henneman #582
1990 Upper Deck Lance Parrish #674
1988 Fleer George Bell #103
1985 Fleer Steve Farr #446
1992 Upper Deck Will Clark #718 - Diamond Skills subset card

1986 Fleer Wade Boggs #341 - worth perhaps a quarter in 2011, perhaps this was the type of card that wouldn't be included in repacks produced in the late 1980s through mid 1990s.
1987 Topps Robin Yount #773
1987 Topps All-Star Set Ozzie Smith #No. 23 of 60
1990 Topps Ames Wade Boggs #16
1989 Topps K-Mart Dream Team Ryne Sandberg #24
1987 Topps Roberto Clemente #313 - Turn Back the Clock subset card
1990 Score Dave Winfield #307

1992 Megacards Babe Ruth Collection #54
1988 Topps All-Star Paul Molitor #3 of 22
1987 Hygrade George Sisler NNO?
1989 Topps Billy Hatcher #252
1992 Leaf Derek Lilliquist #451
1988 Donruss Dan Plesac #109
1992 Fleer Ultra Dan Hesketh #17
1989 Upper Deck Damon Berryhill #455

1998 Pacific Home Run History Sammy Sosa #32
1992 Fleer Platinum Bret Boone #169

2006 Upper Deck Jim Thome #UD-JT jersey card - he has enjoyed a fine playing career and looks to be an eventual Hall of Famer five years after he finally hangs them up.
1991 Topps Doug Rader #231
1987 Topps Larry Sheets #552
1990 Topps Keith Hernandez #230
2002 Upper Deck SPx Joe Mays #30
1988 Topps Willie McGee #160
1988 Topps Ray Knight #124

1988 Topps Greg Minton #129
1988 Topps Carmelo Martinez #148
1988 Topps Bruce Sutter #155
1988 Topps Jack Clark #100
1988 Topps Joel Skinner #109
1988 Topps John Habyan #153
1988 Topps Mickey Tettleton #143
1987 Topps Charlie Hough #70
1987 Topps Glenn Wilson #97
1987 Topps Dodgers Leaders #431
1988 Fleer Ruppert Jones #492
1988 Fleer Ruppert Jones #492
1987 Topps Ruppert Jones #53
1985 Topps Larry Bowa #484
1987 Topps Mike Brown #271
1989 Topps Todd Worrell #535
1987 Topps Mile Thompson #409
1990 K-Mart Super Stars Mark McGwire #32

Part Two
1990 Star Platinum Eric Davis #62
1990 Fleer Brady Anderson #72
1990 Fleer B.J. Surhoff #338
1996 Bowman Jeffrey Hammonds #87
1995 Select Alex Rodriguez Showtime - I guess I'd consider this a nice looking card, though without the intrusive 'SAMPLE' plastered across the front, it would just be another subset card.
1988 Topps K-Mart Darryl Strawberry #29 - I sometimes wonder if junk wax era [1986-91] cards would be looked at differently if Topps or Fleer decided to use one of their 'box set' designs for their flagship brands.

It seems like most of the Topps 'box sets' were glossy - would a nice glossy coating make Topps cards from the era more collectible? I think until Upper Deck came along in 1989, the card companies were content with the cards they printed out, so there was no need to 'juice up' the cards until the early to mid 1990s.

1990 Fleer Kevin Mitchell #65
1990 Fleer Randy Milligan #183
1990 Fleer Kent Hrbek #378
1990 Fleer Harold Baines #290
1992 Upper Deck Mel Rojas #190
1991 Upper Deck Brent Knackert #378
1991 Fleer Andres Thomas #706
1991 Topps Stadium Club Dome Donnie Leshnock #106
1991 Donruss Pat Borders #317
1991 Topps Mitch Williams #335
1991 Topps Bud Black #292
1993 Fleer Derek Lilliquist #217
1987 Donruss Andy McGaffigan #380
1985 Donruss Mike Scott #258
1988 Donruss Mark Davidson #519
1988 Donruss Ozzie Virgil #143
1988 Donruss Duane Ward #567
1986 Topps Rick Honeycutt #439
1986 Topps Pete Filson #122
1986 Topps Lee Tunnell #161 - interesting stuff about Tunnell.
1988 Donruss Greg Mathews #84

1988 Donruss James Steels #380
1988 Donruss Vance Law #212
1988 Donruss Randy Myers #620

1996 Leaf Robin Ventura #172
1992 Score Luis Sojo #127
1989 Topps Scott Bradley #279
1992 Score Bob Kipper #340

1992 Score Sammy Sosa #258 - the talented but raw and undisciplined Sosa showing his skills in the outfield.
1987 Topps Orel Hershiser #385
1992 Topps Mackey Sasser #533
1990 Topps Jerry Reed #247
1993 Donruss Pete Schourek #198
1989 Topps Cecilio Guante #766
1989 Donruss Johnny Paredes #570
1992 Topps Carney Lansford #495
1992 Score Jose Melendez #397
1992 Score Jeff Gray #187
1993-94 Fleer Basketball Reggie Lewis #14
1993-94 Fleer Basketball Tyrone Corbin #206
1990 Donruss Craig Lefferts #376
1990 Donruss Greg Myers #706
1990 Donruss Jack Howell #254
1992 Score Tommy Greene #336
1997 Topps John Smoltz #157

Featured card: 2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers Jim Thome #650

This image used for Thome maybe a preview of at least one type of image Upper Deck will be using in 2010 to skirt past the issue of not being licensed by Major League baseball - it seems like the image is boring because Thome is looking out at something, maybe towards the end of his career and he is just in a daze.

I will not try to foist any sort of significance on the 'retro-style' card since it is one I assume pictures this brave, old-school, heroic baseball warrior at the twilight of his successful baseball career - I do wonder if the original image used actually pictured Thome with the Dodgers or it was created from a White Sox image.

If 2009 was his last Major League season - he ended it as a pinch-hitter on one leg instead of this guy who'd emerged big and strong through his prime years with the Cleveland Indians.

The card will probably go with the rest of the Thome cards I've collected over the years and now are stored away - among the cards of players with the last names starting with a 'T.'

Random baseball card dream

In my dream, I had about $18 dollars of spending money for food but come across this box of cards [marked $2 each] at some card show - I figure I wouldn't find anything, but there was a Mike Piazza certified autograph card [it was an ugly card with a sticker auto, but it was still Piazza!], various patch cards and other cards which I wanted. I didn't know how much it was going to add up to or which cards I would regretfully have to leave behind.

In my dream there was at least a Jim Thome patch card I was thinking of picking up - among others that caught my eye.

I guess the closest these 'fantasy cards' would resemble are the cardboard jersey/bat displays - that come you can purchase at a retail shop like Walmart or Target i.e. like the one pictured, except the cards in my dream where horizontal and had multiple windows for several patch pieces.

As I flipped through the cards, I realized I was probably dreaming - there was a realization as this was too good to be true. No matter how I tried to prolong the experience of finding all these cards, when I woke up, they wouldn't be in my hands.