By BARRY LEWIS Sports Writer on Jan 8, 2013, at 2:30 PM Updated on 1/08 at 6:56 PM
PRO BASEBALL
Former Oklahoma State lefty Tyler Lyons will make his major league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at San ...
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Former Tulsa Drillers are coming and going all over the place in the majors today.
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This year's Hall of Fame balloting results will be announced on Wednesday.
The results are probably the most anticipated in many years as it will be interesting to see how the Baseball Writers Association of America deals with ballot newcomers such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and former Tulsa Drillers outfielder Sammy Sosa, who have come under suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. Character is part of the criteria for election.
Voters can select up to 10 players. It takes 75 percent of the vote to be elected. I am not a BBWAA member and do not have a Hall of Fame vote, but if I did I would vote for: Jack Morris, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza and Lee Smith.
Morris, who came very close last year, was a big-game pitcher with 254 career wins. Biggio had 3,060 hits and 3,000 is usually an automatic qualifier (unless you are Pete Rose and have been banned from baseball). Biggio was a team player who played the game the right way. Piazza is one of baseball's top hitting catchers. Smith was a dominant reliever who was the all-time saves leader for more than a decade.
I could not vote for Bonds, Clemens and Sosa this year and give them baseball's highest honor of a first-ballot election. They don't deserve to be in Cooperstown yet just as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro don't either, yet. Perhaps someday.
Others on the ballot include Dale Murphy, Curt Schilling, Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, Alan Trammell and former Drillers outfielder Larry Walker. They would all be tough for me to leave off my ballot, but for me, they fall just a little bit short of being worthy of being in the Hall of Fame.
-- Barry Lewis
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