@mjp28 said:

2019 Rivera 2020 Jeter should be near unanimous the rest of the class isn't really that strong -or- is tainted with the stink of steroids.....what can happen if the comissioner looks the other way at 70+ HRs and other abuses.

Might actually give Vizquel and maybe even Lee a better shot at getting in, that would be nice following Thome. Now Hafner no shot.

Sometimes it really is timing on things.

Cliff Lee?  Good for a bit......nowhere close to HOF...unlike Omar

@the-gipper said:

OK on Rivera,  but with the names you have provided,  except for the Steroids freaks like Bonds and Clemens,   Omar is about the most deserving to get in.  He and Schilling.

2019 Rivera 2020 Jeter should be near unanimous the rest of the class isn't really that strong -or- is tainted with the stink of steroids.....what can happen if the comissioner looks the other way at 70+ HRs and other abuses.

Might actually give Vizquel and maybe even Lee a better shot at getting in, that would be nice following Thome. Now Hafner no shot.

Sometimes it really is timing on things.

2019

Top newcomers: Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt
Top holdovers: Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling
Most likely to be elected: Rivera, Halladay, Martinez
Falling off: Fred McGriff

Having received 70.4% in this year's election, Martinez is well positioned for 2019, his final year of eligibility. Stop me if you've heard this one, but 19 out of the 20 candidates to receive at least 70% and return to the ballot the following year (instead of aging off) were elected...... so Omar waits again? 

2020
Top newcomers: Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn, Cliff Lee <--- hey former Indian!
Top holdovers: Mussina, Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Walker, Vizquel <--- and maybe one of the top 3 or 5 SS players ever?
Most likely to be elected: Jeter, Mussina
Falling off: Walker

.......Any chance a Cleveland Indian gets in in 2019 or 2020? 

@the-gipper said:

Anyone who knows baseball would have voted for Omar as well.

We got spoiled watching one of the best glovemen EVER to play shortstop but he does have a climb yet. I do believe class and character will mean more coming out of the PED era, just ask Mcguire, Bonds, Sosa among others.

Edgar Martinez: 297 votes (70.4%)
Mike Mussina: 268 votes (63.5%)
Roger Clemens: 242 votes (57.3%)
Barry Bonds: 238 votes (56.4%)
Curt Schilling: 216 votes (51.2%)
Omar Vizquel: 156 votes (37.0%) <--- long road for Omar?
Larry Walker: 144 votes (34.1%)

But we'll see, Omar in two or three years? GO TRIBE, again:

He is the class of the 6 person class of 2018 and in as a Cleveland Indian.

2019
Favorites: Rivera, Edgar Martinez

Too close to call: Andy Pettitte, Roy Halladay

Other possibilities: Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt......oh and Travis Hafner will be in the class

Relievers historically have been a tough sell to voters. Not this time. Rivera's 652 regular-season saves and 0.70 postseason ERA are the gold standard for closers. He will sail in. Halladay and Pettitte have Hall of Fame credentials, and they will be interesting test cases given the shifting standards for starting pitchers. This will be Edgar Martinez's final year on the ballot. His case is rock solid, and based on the surge that Raines got in his final year, it's not hard to imagine Martinez getting pushed over the top in a similar fashion.......

2020
Favorites: Jeter

Too close to call: Larry Walker

Other possibilities: Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Mussina

Jeter could very well be the first unanimous pick in history, if Rivera doesn't grab that honor in 2019. Walker (72.6 WAR) has never cracked 23 percent, and this would be his final year on the ballot. He has a strong case based on advanced metrics, but the boost his numbers got from playing in Coors Field seems to have hurt his candidacy. This will also be another litmus test for Bonds and Clemens.

2021
Favorites: None.

Too close to call: Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Mussina

Other possibilities: Torii Hunter, Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle

Hunter, Hudson and Buehrle are the best of the first-time candidates, and all are long shots despite distinguished careers. As a result, this sets up to be a year to clear some of the backlog with Bonds, Clemens and Schilling in their ninth years on the ballot.

http://sportspaper.info/mlb/teams/indians/press-room-mlb-indians.html

I collected scorecards and programs from EVERY game I attended in the 1970s and 1980s at the old Municipal Stadium and some as a kid from the late 1950s and 1960s plus most every ticket stub. Nuts eh?   Well opening day NY YANKEES vs CLEVELAND INDIANS ticket stubs are neat, BROWNS tickets too like  whole untorn STEELERS vs BROWNS 50 yard line COMPLIMENTARY tickets.   

@canton-mike said:

Love both those guys (Thome & Vizquel), but Omar is extra special. As a kid, my first favorite ballplayer was Larry Doby, but, IMHO, Omar Vizquel is the most exciting Indians ballplayer I ever saw. Good luck to them both!

Mike

VIZQUEL is the only professional sports jersey I own that has a player name on it, I used to buy a LOT of Indians merchandise from the now defunct Indians own site, personal, gift and promotional purchases with a site discount plus they threw in a media package and other perks.

Well one day I got the #13 jersey thrown in as a free gift which was nice because Omar was my favorite player in that era.....still have it, a keeper!

Mike

@stillmotion said:

Thome and Omar were both class acts

Agree there, nice guys even today long removed from their playing days you can't say that about many stars.

ALSO MLB can get kindof stingy about handing out HOF winners unlike most other sports.

But Thome and Omar.....absolutely!

Aside from the two Indians, and the steroid cheaters, I would think that the most deserving are  Hoffman  Guerroro, Schilling and Chipper.

I'd like to see Vizquel, Thome naturally plus Vlad, Hoffman, Edgar, Mcgriff get a shot among others.

Some big names on that unofficial "blackball" list!