IBWAA SELECTS BARRY BONDS, ROGER CLEMENS, FOUR OTHERS IN 2018 HALL OF FAME VOTE

Los Angeles – In its ninth annual Hall of Fame election announced Wednesday, the IBWAA added six players to its digital Hall of Fame.

 

Chipper Jones was the top vote-getter, with 168 out of 170 ballots cast (98.82%). Jim Thome was the runner-up, with 154 votes (90.59%), followed by Mike Mussina (146 votes, 85.88%), Roger Clemens (133, 78.24%), Barry Bonds (130, 76.47%) and Trevor Hoffman (128, 75.29%). A 75% threshold is required for election.

 

Edgar Martinez (2016) and Vladimir Guerrero (2017) did not appear on the 2018 IBWAA Hall of Fame ballot because they have already been elected in previous years.

 

With those exceptions, the IBWAA ballot was identical to the one used by the BBWAA. All voting is done electronically.

 

Per a group decision in January, 2014, the IBWAA allows members to vote for up to 15 players, instead of the previous 10, beginning with the 2015 election. In the 2018 election, 95 members voted for 10 or more candidates. Twenty-seven members voted for 15 candidates. The average vote per member was 10.10.

 

Complete voting results are as follows:

 

Player Name	Votes	Percentage
Chipper Jones	168	98.82%
Jim Thome	154	90.59%
Mike Mussina	146	85.88%
Roger Clemens	133	78.24%
Barry Bonds	130	76.47%
Trevor Hoffman	128	75.29%
Curt Schilling	116	68.24%
Larry Walker	111	65.29%
Fred McGriff	81	47.65%
Manny Ramirez	76	44.71%
Scott Rolen	76	44.71%
Gary Sheffield	67	39.41%
Jeff Kent	61	35.88%
Andruw Jones	57	33.53%
Billy Wagner	55	32.35%
Omar Vizquel	48	28.24%
Sammy Sosa	47	27.65%
Johan Santana	36	21.18%
Hideki Matsui	8	4.71%
Jamie Moyer	6	3.53%
Chris Carpenter	4	2.35%
Carlos Lee	2	1.18%
Johnny Damon	2	1.18%
Kerry Wood	2	1.18%
Aubrey Huff	1	0.59%
Brad Lidge	1	0.59%
Jason Isringhausen	1	0.59%
Carlos Zambrano	0	0.00%
Kevin Millwood	0	0.00%
Livan Hernandez	0	0.00%
Orlando Hudson	0	0.00%

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 

In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.

 

Among others, IBWAA members include Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, Billy-Ball.com; Chris De Luca, Chicago Sun-Times; Jon Heyman and Jesse Spector, Today’s Knuckleball; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; David Schoenfield, ESPN.com; Jim Bowden and Bill Arnold.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAA
baseballsavvy@aol.com

BBWAA Elects Four Into Hall of Fame

The Baseball Writers Association of America has elected four members to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero.

Jones had 97.2% of the vote needed while Guerrero (92.9%), Thome (89.8%) and Hoffman (79.9%) all eclipsed the 75% mark needed for Hall induction.

Mike Mussina missed the mark falling just 49 votes shy with 63.5% of the vote while Edgar Martinez fell just 20 votes shy with 70.4% of the vote.

My 2018 IBWAA Hall of Fame Vote

My 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot

The 2018 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot has been released and there are quite a few interesting names on it as newcomers. To name a few of the newcomers we have Johan Santana, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Jamie Moyer and Andruw Jones. Let’s take a look at the complete ballot and decide who I would vote for if I had a vote with the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Here is the complete 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot:

Johan Santana

Chipper Jones

Barry Bonds

Chris Carpenter

Roger Clemens

Johnny Damon

Vladimir Guerrero

Livan Hernandez

Trevor Hoffman

Orlando Hudson

Aubrey Huff

Jason Isringhausen

Andruw Jones

Jeff Kent

Carlos Lee

Brad Lidge

Edgar Martinez

Hideki Matsui (homer alert… as this is all hypothetical)

Fred McGriff

Kevin Millwood

Jamie Moyer

Mike Mussina

Manny Ramirez

Scott Rolen

Curt Schilling

Gary Sheffield

Sammy Sosa

Jim Thome

Omar Vizquel

Billy Wagner

Larry Walker

Kerry Wood

Carlos Zambrano

BOLDED players receive my vote, capped at ten votes per ballot.

Former Yankee Roger Clemens, Others, Return to Baseball!

Sort of. There are a few former Major League Baseball players returning to the baseball diamond for a game or two next month including former Yankees star Roger Clemens. Former MLB player, most recently of the Chicago White Sox, Adam LaRoche has assembled a team of former MLB players he has named the Kansas Stars to take place in the National baseball Congress World Series. Basically during this event a few college teams will get to go head-to-head against players they undoubtedly watched and idolized growing up as a kid. How cool is this? I’m going super nerd fan right now, I know, but this is an awesome gesture and I can’t wait to watch.

Here is the roster via the Wichita Eagle:

Chipper Jones, infielder

Roger Clemens, pitcher
Tim Hudson, pitcher
J.D. Drew, outfielder
Dan Uggla, infielder
Roy Oswalt, pitcher
Adam LaRoche, infielder
Rick Ankiel, outfielder
Brad Penny, pitcher
Ben Sheets, pitcher
Josh Beckett, pitcher
Brandon Inge, infielder
Jack Wilson, infielder
Nate Robertson, pitcher
Brett Tomko, pitcher
Jayson Nix, infielder
Laynce Nix, outfielder
Jason Isringhausen, pitcher
Carl Everett, outfielder
Ryan Langerhans, outfielder
Pete Orr, infielder
Koby Clemens, infielder-outfielder
Justin Germano, pitcher
Koyie Hill, catcher
Barry Wesson, outfielder
Ryan Kohlmeier, pitcher

The game will be played on August 6^th in Wichita, Kansas. I’m sure it will be televised somewhere but I don’t have where just yet. Stay tuned. 

Bolded players denote former Yankees. 

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1999 World Series Game Four HERE

Game Four of the 1999 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1999 World Series Game Three HERE

Game Three of the 1999 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1999 World Series Game Two HERE

Game Two of the 1999 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 1999 World Series Game One HERE

Game One of the 1999 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

David Ortiz Made a Career Against the New York Yankees

After the success of the first syndicated blog post between Section 36 and myself, both members of the BYB Hub, I wanted to stick to the topic of David Ortiz at least for one more article before we delve into the long, cold winter and hot stove season. Ortiz will not have a similar farewell tour to Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter in my opinion. Ortiz has made few friends with his outbursts, his bat flips, the slowest recorded time to round the bases after a home run, etc. and has alienated a lot of fans around the league, especially in New York. There is no love lost between the fans of the New York Yankees and Mr. Ortiz, not that there isn’t the respect he undoubtedly deserves hidden away somewhere deep down, and for good reason. David Ortiz had made a career out of beating the New York Yankees, and he’s done it often and done it well.

I	Split	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	BAbip	tOPS+
	New York Yankees	224	977	140	254	72	47	158	129	160	.306	.395	.565	.960	469	.324	108

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

I think this summation about sums it up. Ortiz, thank you. Not for everything you’ve done but for walking away from the game presumably with something left in the tank. You killed us many, many times and none of us will be sad to see you go.