Although this year’s Hall of Fame ballot was full of star studded first timers like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds (who are widely considered the best pitcher and hitter in our era), I wasn’t expecting either of them to get the opportunity to be enshrined in baseball immortality this July. However, there were two men that should have be voted in without question, yet they have to wait another year to see if they’ll be able to make the trip to Cooperstown:

Mike Piazza

.308/.377/.545 triple slash, 427 HR, 1335 RBI, 2,127 hits, 12 All-Star selections, 10 Silver Slugger Awards

nine seasons of 30+ homers, six 100+ RBI seasons, most homers ever by a catcher, widely regarded as the best offensive catcher in MLB history

57.2% HOF vote on first ballot

Craig Biggio

.281/.363/.433 triple slash, 291 HR, 1175 RBI, 1,844 runs scored (15th all-time), 3,060 hits (21st all-time), 668 doubles (5th all-time)

7 All-Star appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers, 4 Gold Gloves, seven seasons of 40+ doubles, six seasons of 20+ HBPs

68.2% of HOF vote on first ballot

After all of the chatter from the BBWAA writers about Piazza and their suspicion he used PEDs, I wasn’t expecting him to get in (although I still think he should have). It was the omission of Biggio that really made me scratch my head. It’s amazing that a member of the 3,000 hit club with a squeaky clean image is not a first ballot Hall of Famer. Both his and Piazza’s numbers alone are all writers need to look at to see whether or not these two are worthy of this honor.

It will only get harder for these two to get the necessary 75% vote to get in during the next few years, as more notable players will be entering the ballot from their era as well. Time will tell to see how they do.

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