Mo Vaughn singing the Richie Allen Blues

The  voting guidelines for the Hall of Fame — more particularly, their ambiguity– have been discussed many times: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Three of the six criteria (integrity, sportsmanship and character) are more or less the same thing. The other three are more distinct, yet difficult to tease apart. The result, as long time pundits know well, is a carte blanche for voters to proceed according to whichever standards they themselves find convenient. 

One recurring complaint about this state of affairs is that the “integrity, sportsmanship, [and] character” of candidates are judged unequally, if at all. Common examples include notorious bigots Cap Anson and Enos Slaughter, suspected cheater (and notorious bigot) Ty Cobb, and unrepentant spitballer Gaylord Perry. Waiting at the gates, meanwhile, are all-around good guys Dale Murphy and Buck O’Neil, among others. The only agreed upon middle ground, apparently, is the candidacies of alleged PED users McGwire, Palmeiro, Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, who have collectively launched the majority of voters onto their high horses. The conclusion of all this is usually that voters need to make up their mind on the ‘real’ rules– the Hall of Statistically Superior, the Hall of Gentlemen, the Hall of (in)Famous, etc. 

What’s often overlooked, though, is that those moral guidelines actually have been quietly invoked time after time. The most well-known instance is Dick Allen. A few choice statistics from Mr. Allen’s career: Eleven consecutive seasons with an on-base percentage over .350. Career OPS+ of 156, 19th all-time. 351 home runs. Seven All-Star selections, as well as 1964 Rookie of the Year and 1972 MVP. And, perhaps most importantly, unapologetic ass. To be fair, Allen has received a good deal of support over the years, and it’s not implausible that he’ll eventually be elected. The point of this article is to find some other players with cause to sing the (don’t call me) Richie Allen blues. One of them, Mo Vaughn, is on this year’s ballot.

First and foremost, let me say that I don’t think Mo Vaughn belongs in the Hall. I do think he deserves more votes than he’ll get (the results will be announced in two hours). Consider the American League from 1993 to 1998– cherry-picking to be sure, but still a solid six years. Mo is fifth in OPS+, fifth in slugging percentage, sixth in home runs, third in runs created. He won the MVP in 1995 and got votes in five other seasons. Playing in one of the most outstanding offensive milieus in recent memory, Vaughn more than held his own against some legendary sluggers (think Griffey, Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, Edgar Martinez, Albert Belle).

Is Mo Vaughn a Hall of Famer? No. Definitely not. Does he deserve 5% of the vote, enough to keep him on the ballot for another year? Absolutely, yet I don’t believe he’ll get it. The reason, more likely than not, is that he couldn’t avoid getting into silly little spats with Boston (and Anaheim) management. At first glance, he seemed like a jolly enough fat man, and he always did a good deal of community service, yet managed to get a reputation as a trouble-maker by bickering with the wrong people. That will cost him more than a few votes, and while it’s not as egregious as with Dick Allen, it still deserves mention.

Who else has been tarred with this brush? Well, if Mo Vaughn has a complaint, then Albert Belle has a better one. His peak was higher and lasted longer than Vaughn’s; even compared to Griffey and Thomas, one could argue that Belle was the best hitter of the mid-to-late 1990s. Consider that from 1992-1999, a span of eight seasons, Belle hit at least 30 home runs each year. Only nine players in baseball history have topped that: Bonds, Foxx, Sosa, Delgado, Gehrig, Eddie Mathews, Palmeiro, Schmidt, Thome. All easy Hall of Fame choices, drug use notwithstanding. He also had over 100 RBIs in each of those seasons, which only Gehrig, Ruth and Foxx matched. In that stretch, he had an OPS+ of 152, was the only player with 300 doubles, the only player with 1000 RBIs, led the majors in hits, and was third in home runs (behind Griffey and McGwire). I mentioned that Mo Vaughn won the 1995 MVP, but it actually rightly belonged to Belle. The statistical comparison is patently ridiculous: 

  When asked about his chances for the MVP in early October, though, Belle merely stated the obvious: “It’s going to be tough. I’m not really considered a media darling.”

In light of this overwhelming statistical evidence, why is Albert out? Or, at the least, why isn’t he still on the ballot? His  lengthy track record  has been gleefully compiled many a time. More so than any other athlete in recent memory, Belle apparently went out of his way to antagonize the media. They, it seems, have returned the favor when given the opportunity. As Joey can attest, it’s a tough world out there.

Briefly, some dishonorable mentions:

Darryl Strawberry– Eight-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion. 1983 Rookie of the Year. Career OPS+ of 138, including .505 slugging percentage; 335 home runs. Problems with everything from drugs and alcohol to depression and cancer. In his lone year on the ballot, 2005, Strawberry got six votes, or 1.1%, fewer than half the total of one-armed pitcher Jim Abbott (13 votes).

Dennis Martinez– 245 victories, 2149 strikeouts. Top 50 all-time in games, innings and starts. Five-time All-Star. First ever Nicaraguan major leaguer, and first Latino to throw a perfect game. Struggled with alcoholism. 16 votes, or 3.2% of voters, in his lone year on the ballot, 2004. 

Pedro Guerrero– Five-time All-Star; career on-base percentage of .370. In the 1980s, only Mike Schmidt, Wade Boggs and George Brett had a higher OPS+ than Guerrero, placing him ahead of Hall of Famers Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson, Robin Yount and Dave Winfield (Strawberry is fifth). 215 home runs, despite playing 150 games in only four of 15 career seasons. Also had drug problems, as evidenced by his 2000 arrest for trafficking. Received six votes, or 1.3%, in 1998.

Finally, two last names I came across in research: between the two of them, Bob Welch and Frank Tanana received ONE Hall of Fame vote. Bob Welch got it in 2000. A combined 451 wins, a Cy Young for Welch in 1990, and they get one single vote? In 2000, Lonnie Smith, Bruce Hurst and Bill Gullickson got one vote, same as Welch. In 1999, John Candeleria got a vote, but Tanana didn’t. Yikes.