Former Tigers and the 2014 Hall of Fame Balloting

Oct 17, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers former pitcher

throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to game five of the American League Championship Series baseball game at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week, the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot was released. On this ballot are 19 newcomers adding to 17 other players to create a ballot 36 players on the Baseball Writers Association of America Ballot for the Hall. This list includes 7 former Detroit Tigers: Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Hideo Nomo, Todd Jones, Kenny Rogers, Sean Casey and Jacque Jones. To qualify for the Hall of Fame, a player must receive 75% of the vote. Last season, the two veterans to the list, Morris and Trammell received 67.7% and 33.6% of the vote in their 15^th and 13^th seasons respectively.

Baseball Reference has listed each player along with a “Hall of Fame Monitor” and a “Hall of Career Standards” score that estimate the chance that the player will be inducted into the Hall of Fame based on his career performance. The Hall of Fame Monitor scale scores greater than 100 indicate a player more likely to make the hall of fame and less than 100 means that they are less likely based on their numbers. The leader in this category is Barry Bonds with a score of 340. The Hall of Career Standards is a 0-100 scale where 50 is an average Hall of Famer. The leader of this category is also Bonds with a score of 76.

Jack Morris is the leader of former Tigers on the Hall of Fame Monitor list with scores of 122 on the monitor and 39 on the career standards. In 18 seasons with the Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Cleveland Indians, Morris compiled a 254-186 record with a 3.90 ERA, 1.296 WHIP and 2478 K’s. Trammell is next on the list and first on the career standards list with scores of 118 and 40. In 20 total seasons all with the Tigers, Trammell compiled a .285/.352/.415 split with 185 HR and 1003 RBI’s. Trammell was a 6 time all-star, 3 time Silver Slugger winner at the shortstop position, 4 time Gold Glove winner, and the 1984 World Series MVP Trammell had 33.6% of the vote last season.

Neither one of these scales are high on any of the first ballot former Tigers. Hideo Nomo is listed at 24 on the monitor scale and 14 on the career standards scale. Jacque Jones received the lowest rating on the monitor scale with a score of 8 and 3^rd worst score on the career standards scale with a score of 12. Kenny Rogers scored the best of the Tigers first balloters with a score of 66 on the monitor scale and 29 on the career standards scale. Sean Casey scored 38 and 19 on the two scales. Todd Jones had the strangest split of anyone on the list overall. He scored 78 on the monitor scale which says he about a 40% chance of making the Hall of Fame. On the career standards scale, Jones was the worst rated player with a score of 3. In 16 seasons, Jones compiled 319 saves, most of which (235) came in 8 seasons with the Tigers. Jones had an ERA of 3.97 and WHIP of 1.413 over his career.

Personally, I did not get to see Trammell or Morris play so I cannot fairly judge whether or not they deserve to be hall of famers. Many Detroiters believe that they belong in the hall, but in 15 and 13 seasons, the writers have not agreed. Having seen the first ballot player play, I do not think any of these players will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.