The Hall of Fame Era

A couple weeks ago, we got my grandmother a cell phone. As she was programming it, she blurted a phrase that I think is incredibly true, not just for life in general, but especially for baseball: "What a time to be alive."

When I was at the HOF last summer, I learned that if players aren't voted in, they can make it in the Hall on the Era Based Committee. Each different year is dedicated to a different era in which players can get another chance. The three main eras (so far) are pre-integration (beginning to 1947), the Golden Era (1947-1973), and then the now (1973-present). Given that the current era is expanding to more than 40 years, I think its time for a new era.

A lot of writers and baseball purists would label today as the Steroid Era. I mean, it makes perfect sense given the beefy guys like Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire who have owned up to it, and then there are guys like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds who have fought it tooth and nail to clear their name but no matter what they do, people will blacklist them. In the early 2000s, it seemed that nearly every slugger was dirty (with the exception of Griffey) and unfortunately, nowadays, the big hitters are accused of juicing. Chris Davis's breakout 2013 was questioned, Jose Bautista's breakout 2010 was questioned, heck even Josh Hamilton has been accused sometimes. It all makes sense though, because today's All Stars are yesterday's criminals. Ryan Braun and Nelson Cruz, both of whom are excelling at the plate this year, were suspended last year. Jhonny Peralta, who was suspended last year, signed a $50 million contract; juicers are still alive and well in the game today. 

It may be cheesy, but there has to be bad in the world so the good can shine through. Rather than name this the Steroid Era, however, I think we should call this the Hall of Fame Era. We are living in one of the greatest generations that baseball has ever seen. Within the next few years, we'll be seeing massive induction classes to the Hall of Fame. 

This upcoming induction in July will have six members; three managers (Cox, Torre, La Russa) and three players (Thomas, Glavine, Maddux), the biggest BBWAA class since 1999. In the last 50 years, the BBWAA has elected three players only 5 times - but in the next 5 years, it should happen every year. Just look at these next few years (who I'm listing is who I'm predicting will be inducted):
2015: Randy Johsnon, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Craig Biggio (missed by 2 votes last year)

2016: Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner

2017: Ivan Rodriguez, Vlad Guerrero, Manny Ramirez (if the writers can see past his antics)

2018: Chris Carpenter, Omar Vizquel, Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen, Jim Thome

The players I have listed I think are absolute locks. We aren't even getting into the argument zones, because there are at least ten other players who could make it if the stars align. Guys like Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, and Mike Piazza are all eligible candidates. And then don't even get me started on the players currently. Well, too bad, you got me started.

Here's my list of current players that will be Hall of Fame locks off the top of my head: Don Kelly, Derek Jeter, Big Papi, Miguel Cabrera, Mariano Rivera, Yadier Molina, Adrian Beltre, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Dustin Pedroia, Albert Pujols, Robinson Cano, Joey Votto, Craig Kimbrel, Andrew McCutchen

Here's my list of players that have a shot: Joe Mauer,  Carlos Gonzalez, David Wright, CC Sabathia, Tim Hudson, Adam Wainwright, David Price, Billy Butler, Joe Nathan, Carlos Beltran

And then there's the young guys who are really good right now but are too young to make a guess: Giancarlo Stanton, Yasiel Puig, Mike Trout, Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale, Eric Hosmer, Paul Goldschmidt, Buster Posey

Many of you might not believe me, but I didn't even look at stats for these. I just kind of whipped names off the top of my head (okay I looked at rosters to jog my memory), but that just goes to show how great of an era we are in for baseball. Within the next 10-15 years, we'll be seeing most of these guys go in and in the next 20-25 years, even more. The writers have a full ballot ahead of them and the next few induction ceremonies will be packed. 

I'm sure there are players that I missed. I'm also sure there are players on here that don't deserve it. But that's the beauty of baseball and the Hall of Fame, we don't know what will happen. I just think that it's a shame that because a few guys (well, more than a few) wanted to cheat, the entire generation has to be punished for it. That's not right. When I take my grandkids to Cooperstown and point out Jeter, Cabrera, Rivera, Maddux, Johnson, Griffey, etc, they will be hailed as some of the greatest who ever lived. All in this one time period. We get to live through it all. I don't want it to be labeled the Steroid Era - those guys will be remembered for their steroids on their own. Don't label the clean ones that way, too.

My grandma was right. It is a heck of a time to be alive for baseball fans. We're living in a time that has both the biggest hitters and the greatest pitchers. Compare this to the past decades when for the most part it was either one or the other. In the 60's and 70's it was a pitching dominated game. In the 30's and 40's it was a slugger's game. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule, but how many times will we be able to say that we saw both the offensive and defensive triple crown in back to back years? Kershaw and Verlander did it both in 2011 then Cabrera did it on the other side of the ball in 2012. It blows my mind.

What a time to be alive.

Thanks for reading.