Friday, March 27, 2009

Bleacher Report breaks down future HOF balloting

Of course, the franchise's 1B1 is up for Hall of Fame balloting in 2011. What do they say about the Astros' best first chance at getting the Astros logo in the Plaque Gallery?

Jeff Bagwell

A career .297 hitter who belted 449 home runs and 1,558 RBI, Bagwell was selected unanimously as the 1991 National League MVP. In 400 plate appearances that year, he batted .369 with 39 home runs and 116 RBI.

Why he'll make the Hall: Among other things, a .408 career OBP; .540 slugging percentage; .993 fielding percentage; and 202 stolen bases.

Why he won't make the Hall: No World Series title and a lack of name recognition.

Prediction: A first-ballot Hall of Famer.

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I'm going to respectfully disagree. I do not think that Bagwell is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the next two and a half years of slow-leaking PED information is going to determine his legitimacy as a candidate at all. I think the "lack of name recognition" as a reason is completely false, as Bagwell (maybe Biggio) is about the only Astro many non-Astros fans can name from 1990-2004. I do think there is a better, more poetic chance of Bagwell becoming a third-ballot HOFer while Biggio is a first-ballot HOFer, meaning they enter the Hall of Fame at the same time.