Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell: The rest of the Hall of Fame ballot

January 4, 7:38 PMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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It's not as if it ranks up there with Illinois politics, hanging chads in Florida and Senate-seat ballot counting in Minnesota, but Hall of Fame voting does have its quirks and conundrums.

Some voters follow that first-ballot theory -- that is, they withhold a vote for a player the first time around, then vote for him later. You know, because only the 'elite of the elite' should go in on the first ballot. 

Some candidates -- and there's no better example than Jim Rice -- see their vote totals climb over time, their careers looking better with the advantage of perspective. Eras change, thoughts change, we learn as we go.

And then there is that massive gray area between the cinch Hall of Famers on any ballot -- and that is a very limited group -- and those who you know just don't belong, and won't stay eligible for more than a year or two.

This is where Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Tommy John, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Harold Baines and TIm Raines currently reside. From this group, there eventually may be only a couple of inductees.

But you can make a decent case for each of them, and enough voters do to keep their candidacies alive -- and there's nothing wrong with that. After all, you can fill in up to 10 candidates' boxes on any ballot.

Smith and Morris had vote totals in the 40-percent range last year, and are the best bets to grow into more-serious candidates, although there appears to be a movement building for Raines -- and Rickey Henderson's near-certain election next Monday can't hurt that cause.

The others are longshots, and most likely will end up in Veterans Committee purgatory, just like Davey Concepcion, whose 15-year eligibility on the writers' ballot expired with last year's vote despite a small but ardent group of supporters.

Now that the do-relievers-belong debate finally has evaportated, Smith is being judged on his own merits. He didn't have Dennis Eckersley's pinpoint control. He wasn't as intimidating as Goose Gossage. He didn't have a freak pitch like Hoyt Wilhelm and Bruce Sutter.

But he does have the third most saves in history (478), and a big part of his career was spent when a 30-save season really meant something. Nobody in history has finished more games, and there were seven All-Star selections, four saves titles, three Rolaids Reliever of the Year Awards, three 40-save seasons, 10 in a row with 30 or more saves and a 3.03 career ERA.

 Morris -- like Rice -- has that dominant-in-his-era argument going for him. He led all pitchers in wins, complete games, starts and innings in the 1980s. There also were three 20-win seasons, 11 with 200-plus innings, 14 Opening Day starts, five top-five Cy Young voting finishes, three World Series titles and one memorable World Series MVP.

The career 3.90 ERA always will be too high, but those 254 wins should grow in stature with the disappearance of the 300-game winner after Randy Johnson.

And Trammell? Consistent leadership and excellence in the form of seven .300 seasons,  three MVP top-nine finishes, six All-Star selections, four AL Gold Gloves and one World Series MVP. And defense too often is overlooked, unless we're talking about an Ozzie Smith.

Speaking of The Wizard, who went in with 91.7 percent of the vote, and rightfully so. But Trammell's highest vote percentage in seven years is 18.1, and there just wasn't that big of a difference between the two.

For more info: See other Hall of Fame-related stories:  Rickey Henderson,  Jim Rice,  Bert Blyleven,  Andre Dawson