Today, Barry Larkin is expected to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And that's great—Larkin is a deserving candidate.
I feel as though I've made my opinions on the matter very much known. But in case you aren't sick of it yet, I throw my support behind Jeff Bagwell (first and foremost), Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin, Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro.
How about the others? Well, I certainly wouldn't mind it if Fred McGriff was inducted. And I'd actually kind of like it if Dale Murphy was inducted. I want to support him, but can't bring myself to do it. As for the reliever question, if you support Trevor Hoffman you should support Lee Smith. And as for Mr. Jack Morris, I don't support him but I would gladly trade a Morris induction for a Bagwell/Edgar/Larkin/Trammell/Raines induction.
I just took a look at @leokitty's Hall of Fame vote counter, where she collects public Hall of Fame ballots by members of the BBWAA. The players currently with one third of the "vote" are Larkin (91%), Morris (64%), Raines (62%), Bagwell (58%), Smith (47%), Trammell (40%), and Edgar (37%). I'm afraid these votes may be a little high, since only the writers who aren't afraid of being insulted would publish their ballots.
Either way, are we seeing an increase in Alan Trammell support? 40% seems very high compared to his 24.3% last year. Trammell has been slowly creeping up in votes over the last couple of years. This is his 11th time on the ballot, meaning he has just four chances left after this one. He still can't be seen as anything other than a longshot at this point.
It looks like we may be seeing a big uptick in support for Tim Raines. While others are higher on Raines than I am, he no doubt belongs. This is his sixth ballot. It's time for him to gain some traction. Jeff Bagwell likely will see a jump this year, but nothing close to what he should get. That's frustrating, seeing he's the single best player not in the Hall of Fame.
Any predictions? I'm thinking Larkin is in pretty comfortably (seeing an Alomar-like jump). Morris will finish second, probably near 60%, which will make his last year on the ballot one full of debate. While I know Bagwell and Raines won't get in, it would be nice to see them both clear 50% this year and keep gaining traction.