The Hall of Fame roundup

Rickey Henderson made it into the Hall of Fame on his first try, while Jim Rice got the nod on his last. AP

Here it is ... your 2009 overly long, absurdly obsessive, Hall of Fame recap.

Rickey Henderson (511 out of 539 votes, 94.8 percent): So, in the end, there were 28 people who did not vote for the all-time leader in runs, unintentional walks and stolen bases ...

I do wonder how many people left Rickey off the ballot as some sort of political statement, and how many left him off because they honestly believe that Rickey Henderson does not belong in the Hall (you know the guy only hit .279). I wish every voter would express their reasoning ... not for some sort of voter witch hunt, not to embarrass anyone, but because I'm genuinely curious about what voters think about this stuff.

Greg Maddux. That's my next choice for unanimous. I simply cannot imagine how ANYONE will be able to not vote for Greg Maddux. He has the core accomplishments -- 355 wins, four Cy Young awards, 3,371 strikeouts, a terrific (for his time) 3.16 ERA. He has the intangibles -- everyone loves what Maddux represented on the mound, and he seems utterly unblemished by scandal (with Maddux there never even seemed a motive for him to use steroids). His Hall of Fame call is five years away, but I'm already making the prediction: Greg Maddux will finish with the highest percentage in baseball history. And he has a shot at unanimous -- I say he gets within five votes of unanimous.

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Jim Rice (412 votes, 76.4 percent). Plenty -- PLENTY -- has already been said and written about Jim Rice, and there's not a lot more to add. I will say this: I find it a fascinating study of human nature that Jim Rice was elected. Why? Well, you might recall that for years, common reasoning was that Jim Rice was being denied his rightful place in the Hall of Fame because he could be surly and not particularly good to the media and not especially likable.

And then, in the end, he was voted in even though numerous players with similar Hall of Fame credentials -- men who WERE NOT surly, WERE good to the media, WERE likable -- have not been elected. In many cases these others never even came CLOSE to being elected. Just off the top of my head: Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, Joe Torre, Ken Singleton, Keith Hernandez, Tim Raines, Don Mattingly, Rocky Colavito ...

I'm not passing judgment now -- Rice is in the Hall of Fame, and I'm happy for him. I'm just saying that's kind of interesting.

Well, wait, one other thought: To once again quote my friend Ken Rosenthal: He wrote that Rice deserves induction because he met "my first essential requirement for a Hall of Famer -- 10-year dominance." I appreciate that. I respect anyone who has thought through what the Hall of Fame means and then is consistent in that thinking.

However, if 10-year of dominance is the theme then I would like to point out ...

Rocky Colavito (1957-1966): Led the American League in games (1,533), homers (337), RBIs (1,020), extra base hits (603), times on base (2,355), runs produced (1,545), outfield assists, ... second in doubles (252 -- to Al Kaline), runs (862 -- to Mickey Mantle), walks (824 -- to Mantle). Total Hall of Fame votes: 2 in 1974; 1 in 1975.

Dale Murphy (1981-1990): Led the National League in games (1,535), home runs (299), RBIs (923), walks (786), total bases (2,741), runs produced (1,524) and intentional walks (138) ... second in runs (900 -- to Raines), second in runs created (1,002 -- to Raines), second in times on base (2,339 -- to Raines). (Shows that Tim Raines was pretty dominant over a 10-year period, too.) Murphy has been on the ballot since 1998. His best year came in 2000, when he got 23.2 percent of the vote; he hasn't gotten as much as 15 percent since 2001.

Dan Quisenberry (1990-1989): Led the American League (500-plus innings) in saves (233), games finished (482), ERA (2.53), ERA+ (162), walks per nine innings (1.35), fewest wild pitches (3). Set the save record. Had five top-five Cy Young Award finishes. Was on the Hall of Fame ballot for one season.

Ron Guidry (1977-1986): Led the American League in wins (163), winning percentage (.674), shutouts (26), starter ERA (3.23) and strikeouts (1,623 -- 300 more than anyone else). That's a 10-year Pitcher Triple Crown. Guidry did stay on the ballot for nine years, though he never got more than 8 percent of the vote.

Just something fun to think about.

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Speaking of something to think about, here's a game. Name the non-Hall of Famers. Answers on bottom.

Contestant No. 1: He's a three-time Gold Glove outfielder who finished his career with a 129 OPS+. He played in a tough hitting environment, so if you neutralize his statistics, he has 364 homers and 504 stolen bases. Even as he was, his Power/Speed Number is fourth all-time, and over 162 games he averaged 29 homers, 40 stolen bases, 110 runs scored and 90 RBIs.

Contestant No. 2: He's a seven-time Gold Glove outfielder who finished his career with a 127 OPS+. He had almost 2,500 hits, hit 385 home runs in his career and he hit .300 in his two World Series appearances. He also made one of the greatest defensive plays in World Series history.

Contestant No. 3: He's a three-time Gold Glove second baseman who finished with a 116 OPS+. He hit double-digit home runs 13 times in his career, and he knocked out 2,369 hits. He scored more runs, drove in more runs, walked four hundred more times and struck out 150 fewer times than Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.