I don't put a deadline on getting your votes in, hopefully within a week, but please take the time to go through the candidates and make an informed vote by whatever your process is.
This year's ballot consists of twenty-six players. Twenty-two carryovers and four new nominees. And what a new class it is... Alvarez, Vasquez, Wu, and O'Quinn. 28 combined All-Stars.
I have put the spoiler tag over the players' season by season stats to save space. Simply click on the spoiler tag and you can see their stats.
I have added a chart with everyone's career totals at the end. A one-stop shop if that is all you're interested in.
I have added a chart with the 162 game averages for the last 21 MLB batters inducted into the real life Hall of Fame. This may be good for comparison.
I have done away with listing each nominee's HOF test scores in their personal rundown. These scores are already in a chart later in the post, it seems kind of redundant having them in there twice.
I have also done away with the previous votes line in each nominees' spot and made one chart listing all nominees and their past voting history.
Voting process and rules are as follows..
--You can PM me your ballot or post it here in this thread. Forum only allows for 10 poll options. Plus no way to track.
--No waiting period after retirement
--75% of all votes received will get a player in. 5% to carry over to next election, 10 seasons max.
--You can vote for zero to ten players, but please vote, even if it's a blank ballot.
--No new teams this year, we should have 30 votes.
The Ballot...
Blacked-out = Not on ballot, Greyed-Out includes that year's results.
The Breakdown..
Gustavo Alvarez, 1B/3B/DH New York
A hitting machine, Alvarez boast a career batting average of .335 while rapping out over 2500 career hits . Single-season batting record of .407 in 2021 with Hartford, single-season record for hits in 2017 at 251 with Kentucky, and despite those numbers, his best season came in 2019 while winning the HOTY with Toronto. The 7-time All-Star won 3 H&K awards in his early days with New York and ranks 4th in career stolen bases. Only thing missing from his arsenal was power.
Spoiler!
Premier power hitter whose prime years from 2019-2024 would probably match anyone's high 6 year span. Fielded his position well, winning one H&K and although didn't steal often, 56 SB, was successful when doing so at a 74% clip. He was selected to 5 All-Star games. won a HOTY in 2020 despite playing for 3 different teams that year and he wears two championship rings on his hands.
Spoiler!
A freak broken kneecap on a non-scheduled sim derailed his career, but his numbers in NorCal are still quite impressive. 4-time All-Star, 2012 HOTY, and a .319 career average. His numbers have stood the test of time and he is actually climbing the career batting average leaderboard.
Spoiler!
His 2017 season , with Philadelphia winning the crown that season, is widely regarded by both VORP and WAR standards to be the best season put together by anyone not named Rodriguez or Cruz. He did this after winning ROTY in 2016 with Sheltown. Leading the way to "Gibbons'd" being the second most coined term in trade talk threads behind "NGR'd". Only player in NDLB history to win a Championship, HOTY, ROTY, H&K, and be selected to All-Star Game(5 times). Career dwindled after leaving Philly, but a special player in NDLB history.
Spoiler!
A steady and consistent offensive force throughout his career to go along with 3 Gold Glove awards. A career .301 hitter with over 2000 hits and 275 HR's was selected to 3 All-Star Games. One of just 2 players on our ballot that ranks in the Top 100 of EVERY category listed and he is in Top 25 of a lot of important ones.
Spoiler!
Career OBP of .421! Higher than anyone not named Rodriguez or Wu. And when he got on base, he was going. NDLB's career leader in stolen bases with 583. NorCal always had an impressive lineup through the decade with Douglas, Lopez, Jimenez, Burke, and others, but it was Kennedy that keyed this team when he was on the field. Kennedy's injury history is one of the only knocks on him, playing in 140 or more games just 3 times in his 17 seasons. Kennedy won the 2015 Morris Trophy, batting .453/.506/.613 with 24 runs in 17 games that postseason, as NorCal brought home the trophy. He followed that up in 2016 with a respectable .895 postseason OPS in 2016 as NorCal dropped the World Series that year.
Spoiler!
To me, Long is our version of Bernie Williams. Never really excelled at anything besides being consistently very good. Would never be near the top of leaderboards, but year in and year out, there he was at 8, 9, or 10. Won more titles (5) than All-Stars (2). Top 20 in career runs, hits, BB's, WAR and VORP and ranks 8th in SB's.
Spoiler!
The Hall of Fame loves HR's, RBI's and middle infielders. Lopez is all 3. Fifth in career HR's, eleventh in RBI's, all while playing the middle infield. He did not hit for average, or do anything else exceptionally well, but nearly 400 HR's and over 1200 RBi's from those positions is rare. Won a World Series in 2015 with NorCal, was selected to 2 All-Star games, and won a Gold Glove.
Spoiler!
Quick.. name me the 3 players in NDLB history with 2000+ hits, 300+ HR's, a .300 or better batting average and a slugging percentage over .500.. Rodriguez and Cruz would be on all answers, but the third guy.. Amaya-NO, Barron-NO, Gaudreau-NO. The answer is Pablo Lopez. Lopez gets lost in the shuffle while playing his career moving around from Carolina to Hawaii to Ohio to Cleveland and being in Cruz's shadow in the AL, but this guy tore the cover off the ball for a long time. 5 time All-Star and did win a H&K despite playing DH for most of his career.
Spoiler!
Started his career off in New England with a bang, winning ROTY in 2013. Moved onto the Cleveland franchise where he formed a formidable duo with Pablo Lopez, terrorizing AL pitchers for a long time. 335 career homers for the 3-time All-Star.
Spoiler!
Spectacular middle infielder that produced like a corner infielder. From 2015 to 2023, Reyna hit at least 20 doubles, 20 HR's and stole 10 bases in every season but 2019 when he missed by 3 doubles. 3-time All-Star and a H&K winner won the championship in 2014 with Albany.
Spoiler!
5-time All-Star and 2-time champion broke into the bigs in a big way, winning rookie of the year in 2015 after being waived by Sheltown. Had a memorable run in Port Orange before being traded to Louisville in a much hyped trade. Great combination of power and average. Hit 324 HR's and drove in 1082 runs in , a relatively few, 1371 games. Amazingly, did not strike out often. Averaged only 31 K's per 162 games.
Spoiler!
The premier backstop of the 2010's, Suarez was a power hitting catcher with no peer. Did four tours with the Toronto/Miami organization and won a HOTY in 2014 there while leading them to a World Series. Was selected to 6 All-Star games.
Spoiler!
The Roy Hobbs of our league. Came into the league at 37 and dominated. 2011 Triple crown winner, back-to-back HOTY's in 2011 and 2012. Playoff MVP and World Series title in 2012. 3-time All-Star for the career .336 hitter.
Spoiler!
Finished 3 hits shy of 2,000 for his career, but boasts a whopping .330 average (5th all-time). He was a fixture in the post-season as well, playing in 83 career playoff games while amassing a .943 OPS. Top 10 in career VORP and WAR for the 7-time All-Star.
Spoiler!
The man who almost broke the NDLB. .366 career average and a .458 career OBP are off the charts. Ranks 11th in VORP and 19th in WAR despite playing in only 995 games. Won ROTY in 2019 while batting .415, but playing in only 99 games. Followed that up with a .416/94-game campaign in 2020. The 6-time All-Star's health was a major concern and downfall as he played in 130+ games just 3 times in his career.
Spoiler!
His last two seasons in Detroit were nightmarish and hampered his numbers tremendously. Going 11-40 over a two-year span will do that. But look past that and you see 13 straight seasons of double-digit wins and nearly 3,000 strikeouts and a sub-4 career ERA, including the Detroit years.
Spoiler!
PAB as he became affectionately known on the forums will now face the test to see if he is truly elite. Nearly 200 wins and a sub-3.50 ERA might do the trick. He was selected to 4 All-Star games and won 2 rings in his career. He ranks 9th in career VORP and 13th in WAR. Had 1 No-Hitter in his career.
Spoiler!
Cameron spent his entire career with the Boston/NorCal franchise. Despite ranking 5th in career wins with 197, he was only selected to 1 All-Star game. Ranks 13th in career VORP and 12th in WAR. Fired a No-Hitter in 2023.
Spoiler!
One of twenty-six members of the 150-win club. The ace of the rotation of the decade's best team. 5 time all-star, 2011 Seaver winner, 2-time World Series winner, fourth all-time in complete games, and a two-time 20-game winner. Still ranks 16th in both career VORP & WAR despite being retired for eight seasons.
Spoiler!
Foster played 15 seasons in the NDL. Won the Seaver award in 2012 with Carolina before signing with Hartford as a free agent. Spent a decade in hitter-friendly Hartford and was a rock there. Allowed just 1 run on a HR in 18 career post-season appearances.
Spoiler!
Morrssey will be my favorite nominee to track this season. He was relief pitcher, so he is facing a huge obstacle there. But when you delve into the numbers, there are some incredible stats. His 108 wins as RP rank 63rd overall. A RP with 1720 career K's! That ranks 37th all-time. He is ranked 6th in career ERA while top 5 in WHIP, OAVG, and K/9 and his 1400+ IP should not see him off the qualifying standard. Morrissey was a 5-time All-Star and won a ring with Carolina in 2012.
Spoiler!
#3 of the Big 3 in many eyes, but O'Quinn from 2016-2023 could easily rank #1. Numbers simply astound. The 8-time All-Star and 4-time Champ ranks 6th in career Wins and K's, 2nd in career VORP and WAR, all while maintaining the 25th best ERA of all-time. Highest ranking ERA from a starter we have seen in 10 years of voting. He won the Seaver Trophy in his first year with Port Orange in 2016.
Spoiler!
The all-time career saves leader makes the ballot this year as well. He spent his entire career with Las Vegas and was selected to 3 All-Star games. He registered a slew of strikeouts to go along with his saves, piling up 1267 K's in 1158 innings. His ERA ranks 12th all-time.
Spoiler!
Ruppert was a nomad throughout his career, spending time with 6 different franchises, but he was well-accomplished and teams were willing to pay him. Just missed 3,000 K's, finishing with 2,876. 182 wins and a 3.68 ERA were the final numbers for the 4-time All-Star and 2018 World Series winner.
Spoiler!
The Charts...
^^Career totals^^
^^test scores^^
A further breakdown of what the test scores entail could be found by clicking on the link.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/about ... sary.shtml
Ink tests measure leaderboard appearances. Standards score is 100 max, 50 is supposedly average HOF'er. Monitor score is suppose to tell likelihood of induction, not if deserved. 100 is very likely, 130 is a virtual cinch.
^^career ranks for batters &pitchers.^^
--Blue = top 10, green = top 25.
--Era(s) is ranking of ERA out of the 294 starters with at least 100 career NDL starts
^^ Relievers don't have a Hall of Fame standards score, as they don't have any set standards, so I put up a chart of the 5 MLB relievers in the HOF and 3 most likely to get in at the end, if you wish to compare.^^
Spoiler!
--Suarez's numbers include a brief 30-game stint in USBL and Shini includes 877 games in NPB & USBL. There is no way to separate those in game.
-- A chart with the 162 game averages of the last 21 batters(including Frank Thomas) inducted in MLB HOF is in spoiler tag for comparison^^
