Hall Of Famers Announced

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has had an open-door policy for the last five years. It has admitted 16 new members, and more are on the way. The HOF announced the 2019 ballot on Monday and the next class to be enshrined will be announced Jan. 22.

There are plenty of old favorites on the list – and some that aren’t such favorites (Barry Bonds, for example, and Curt Schilling).

But two first-year nominees may well get in, and both are pitchers.

First, there’s former New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Voters generally don’t jump up and down to elect relievers, though they did put Trevor Hoffman in. And Rivera, with an all-time best 652 saves and a posts-season ERA of 0.70. clearly was the best at what he did over a lengthy career.

The other pitcher favored here is the late Roy Halladay. Some voters will say 203 career wins do not qualify him, but this blog argues that a pair of Cy Young awards and two no-hitters (one in the postseason) ought to be enough.

Not holding out a lot of hope here that enough of the baseball writers who vote have softened on Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez and others who played and excelled in an era driven by performance-enhancing drugs. Same for Roger Clemens. Not so sure those writers should make it easier, either.

We will know soon enough who is in and who must wait.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman