SnakePit Hall of Fame 2021 ballot

I’m not sure, but I don’t think I ever got round to writing up the 2020 SnakePit Hall of Fame ballot results. If so, I can’t find the post listing them. I probably got distracted what with everything else that was going on in the first month of the year. So, before we get tore into this year’s ballot, here’s a quick summary.

There were two players who reached the 75% necessary. Unsurprisingly, Derek Jeter made it in as he did in the BBWAA voting, though was short of unanimous, with 46 of the 49 voters picking him. We also caught up with the BBWAA from the previous year by electing Roy Halladay, who received 40 votes. However, Larry Walker was not deemed to be worthy of induction, receiving 31 votes, and so falling short by six. Mike Mussina, another Cooperstown member, was even shorter at 29 votes. Walker was in his 10th year of candidature on the BBWAA ballot, so is taken off our ballot here, but Mussina (in his 7th year) is carried forward.

Previous SnakePit Hall of Fame Inductees

• 2015 - Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez
• 2016 - Ken Griffey Jr.
• 2017 - Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz
• 2018 - Chipper Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez
• 2019 - Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome
• 2020 - Roy Halladay, Derek Jeter

The rules

We began with the same ballot as the Hall of Fame in 2015, and have proceeded from there on. The same 75% super-majority is required for election, and players are removed from the future ballot on election here, regardless of whether or not they made it into the “real” Hall of Fame. So far, the SnakePit electorate has been in fairly close agreement with the BBWAA, with timing the main difference.

This year’s list has been adjusted for the electees and non-electees mentioned above, along with adding the following new arrivals.

• Tim Hudson
• Mark Buehrle
• Torii Hunter
• Dan Haren
• Barry Zito
• Aramis Ramirez
• Shane Victorino
• A.J. Burnett
• Nick Swisher
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Michael Cuddyer

We also removed anyone who didn’t reach 5% on our ballot, even if they did reach that threshold with the BBWAA. Conversely, we’ve kept a few names who were taken off the “official” ballot J.J. Putz, for example, got enough votes from the SnakePit to be back this year! But I have retired Tim Raines, since his 10th year on the BBWAA ballot was back in 2017. He’s had his chances, I feel.

I would say that this year’s selection of new candidates don’t seem to have any obvious first-ballot Hall of Famers among them. By the Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor, Aramis Ramirez seems to have the best credentials and he only rates an 86 (100 or more is likely to get in). By James’s Hall of Fame Career Standards, where 50 is an average Hall of Famer, everyone falls short too - Tim Hudson’s 42 is the top mark there. Just one man to have played in Arizona, that one obviously being Dan Haren. He had a solid, 13-year career, but an ERA+ of 109 and 32.9 bWAR isn’t going to cut it. According to the tracker of public HoF ballots, he hasn’t received a single vote yet... :(

To prevent potential ballot-box stuffing, voting is open only to registered AZ SnakePit users - forms without a valid username filled in will be rejected [however, since you can join by clicking on a link and filling in a form, it’s not exactly an onerous requirement!]. I reserve the right to publish your ballot, with or without your name attached, depending on how amusing it is. However, feel free to announce your ballot and explain it in the comments. You can select as many candidates as you want: there’s no “10 maximum” as on the real thing. Voting is open through Jan 25: the BBWAA will announce their results the following day, and we’ll follow suit shortly thereafter. I will filter out multiple votes too, so you know!

The form is below, and the eligible names are randomized for each submission: here’s a link if you’re on mobile or are otherwise finding the form griefsome.