The Hall's 2012 BBWAA ballot -- the results

The results are in -- have been for several days now.

Congratulations to Barry Larkin, newest honoree of the Baseball Hall of Fame!

On to the numbers.


2012 results

573 ballots submitted.
430 votes (75%) needed for election.
29 votes (5%) needed to stay on the ballot.

...candidate.......... votes.. %.. (remaining ballots)

--- ELECTED ---
1. Barry Larkin....... 495.. 86.4%
--- not elected ---
2. Jack Morris........ 382.. 66.7%... (2)
3. Jeff Bagwell....... 321.. 56.0%... (13)
4. Lee Smith.......... 290.. 50.6%... (5)
5. Tim Raines......... 279.. 48.7%... (10)
6. Alan Trammell...... 211.. 36.8%... (4)
7. Edgar Martinez..... 209.. 36.5%... (12)
8. Fred McGriff....... 137.. 23.9%... (12)
9. Larry Walker....... 131.. 22.9%... (13)
10. Mark McGwire...... 112.. 19.6%... (9)
11. Don Mattingly..... 102.. 17.8%... (3)
12. Dale Murphy........ 83.. 14.5%... (1)
13. Rafael Palmeiro.... 72.. 12.6%... (13)
14. Bernie Williams.... 55... 9.6%... (14)
--- relegated ---
15. Juan Gonzalez...... 23... 4.0%
16. Vinny Castilla...... 6... 1.1%
17. Tim Salmon.......... 5... 0.9%
18. Bill Mueller........ 4... 0.7%
19. Brad Radke.......... 2... 0.4%
20t. Javy Lopez......... 1... 0.2%
20t. Eric Young......... 1... 0.2%
22t. Jeromy Burnitz..... 0... 0.0%
22t. Brian Jordan....... 0... 0.0%
22t. Terry Mulholland... 0... 0.0%
22t. Phil Nevin......... 0... 0.0%
22t. Ruben Sierra....... 0... 0.0%
22t. Tony Womack........ 0... 0.0%


Candidates I supported: Bagwell, Larkin, Martinez, McGriff, McGwire, Murphy, Raines, Smith, Walker, and Williams. I also supported Salmon, but cut him because I constrain myself to no more than ten votes, like the actual ballots mandate. Besides, I had no confidence in Salmon's candidacy, though I thought he'd do better than Castilla did.

Let's go down the ballot.

The electee:

Congratulations, again, to Barry Larkin. This honor was earned and well deserved.

The returning 2013 candidates:

Morris (+71 votes, +13.1%) made a huge gain, giving his candidacy the appearance of a sure thing, so close with two ballots left. I'm not so certain -- and it's not because I'm not a Morris supporter. He still needs approximately 50 votes, and after this huge increase, there may not be many left to garner. Also, with Blyleven out of the way thanks to being elected in 2011, Morris was the best starting pitcher on the 2012 ballot (Radke and Mulholland were faint competition). He will not have that distinction again. The 2013 ballot will likely have David Wells, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens, and 2014 -- Morris' last ballot -- will have Mike Mussina, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux. Think what you like of Clemens' upcoming candidacy, he was a distinctly superior pitcher to Morris, as were all the others, Wells being comparable. Voters who prefer checking only one name per position will have a hard time thinking Morris is the standout starting pitcher candidate, at least on his career merits. His ballot momentum may yet gain him the plaque, and that's okay with me; I just do not think he's got the cruise control assurance others have said he does.

Bagwell (+79, +14.4%) made a very nice gain. There's still nothing material, so perhaps the whispering campaign is failing -- and good riddance if so! -- and he should get there in another two or three ballots. Though, with longtime teammate Craig Biggio coming up next time, if they get elected together that would be a pleasing result.

Smith (+27, +5.3%) doesn't appear to have any critical momentum. This was barely a hiccup, and was probably helped by the weak class of first-time candidates. Still, surpassing the 50% mark is a promising sign.

Raines (+61, +11.2%) got a healthy boost. Keep beating the drums, Rock fans! We won the Blyleven campaign, we can do it for this most worthy player as well!

Tigers fans must be happy that Morris and Trammell (+70, +12.6%) made such large gains, but Tram is still so far down, and his clock is getting so short, that it's not likely there will be a happy ending here. The upcoming few ballots will be loaded with superstar candidates, and it will be that much harder for Trammell's candidacy to make an effective push with the field so crowded.

Voters never worry about a pitcher's offensive performance, and no one really cares about a hitter's defensive performance, so why is the best designated hitter ever discriminated against based upon the part of the game his team didn't want him to play? Dammit! The DH has been around for three generations now; there cannot be more than a handful of voters who witnessed the game without the DH (even as young fans, let alone covered as reporters). This is the type of baseball they have lived! Martinez (+18, +3.6%) got a blip of a gain, but he deserves so much more. Anyone who cannot appreciate the majesty of Edgar's hitting cannot appreciate baseball.

McGriff (+33, +6.0%) still isn't benefiting from the theoretical "well, we refuse to vote for the steroids guys, so we'll look instead to the 'clean' guys and vote for them" voter backlash. Great player, just not a flashy one.

Walker (+13, +2.6%) is fighting the Coors Effect, which seems to be as daunting as the DH Effect to a candidate. I find it incredible that, in these modern times with better and more detailed analysis available than ever before, many still will not bother to look beyond the surface dross and learn what a player really did on the field. Walker hit brilliantly, and he was good with the glove too. It wasn't just the thin air. His candidacy has a long time left to see if more and smarter voters cotton to him. Here's hoping.

McGwire (-3, -0.2%) is stuck in neutral. It's not gonna happen. shrug

Mattingly (+23, +4.2%) is likewise stuck in neutral. Just counting down, fans.

Murphy (+10, +1.9%) is not just stuck in neutral, his transmission is burned out. One ballot left before we get this over with. I can easily understand him not getting elected, but how is it this great player and excellent example of humanity only once cracked 20%? No love at all.

Palmeiro (+8, +1.6%) managed to survive, again, and even picked up a few votes. He'll probably linger behind McGwire for as long as both are on the ballot. Must've been the Viagra endorsements.

Williams was the only first-time candidate to get enough return to advance to the next ballot, which was exactly what the early buzz predicted. Good player, and wore the Yankee pinstripes his entire career, and you can never discount that -- but he's got a long, long way to move up if he's ever to get the plaque. Right now it doesn't look good, but we'll know more after next year.

The relegated:

Gonzalez (-7, -1.2%) barely squeaked by last year, and this year fell below the line. No surprise, really.

I have no comments for the rest of the candidates -- Castilla, Salmon, Mueller, Radke, Lopez, Young, Burnitz, Jordan, Mulholland, Nevin, Sierra, and Womack -- so just a quick "nice to see you one more time, guys" tip of the cap, and we're done for the year.

Looking ahead to the 2013 ballot, this will be the long-anticipated tsunami of rookie candidates, including Kenny Lofton, David Wells, Sandy Alomar, Julio Franco, Jose Mesa, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, and lightning rods Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. This one should be a whole lot of fun!