Would you vote Mark McGwire into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Mark McGwire's numbers are well known: 583 home runs, 1414 RBI, 1317 walks, a 263/.394/.588 line. AL Rookie of the Year in 1987. 12 All-Star teams. 1 Gold Glove. 3 Silver sluggers. Amazingly enough, no MVP awards.
He is number 8 on the career list in Slugging Average. Number 10 in home runs. 67th in RBI. 63.1 career WAR puts him 91st all time among position players. Credited with helping to save baseball after the strike.
And there was some other stuff. What was it? Oh yeah, Steroids. Considering how important he was to the game, after the lockout, and how the very writers that are voting were the ones that turned a blind eye to what he was doing, you would think they would have more sympathy.
And there was the famous 'I'm not here to talk about the past', when asked by congress about it. Gotta wonder what he thought he was there about.
This is his 8th time on the ballot, his high mark was 23.7%, but has been dropping. He got 16.8% last year.
| Year | Age | Tm | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | Pos | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 22 | OAK | 18 | 53 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 18 | .189 | .259 | .377 | .636 | 77 | 5 | |
| 1987 | 23 | OAK | 151 | 557 | 97 | 161 | 28 | 4 | 49 | 118 | 71 | 131 | .289 | .370 | .618 | .987 | 164 | *3/59 | AS,MVP-6,RoY-1 |
| 1988 | 24 | OAK | 155 | 550 | 87 | 143 | 22 | 1 | 32 | 99 | 76 | 117 | .260 | .352 | .478 | .830 | 134 | *3/9 | AS,MVP-19 |
| 1989 | 25 | OAK | 143 | 490 | 74 | 113 | 17 | 0 | 33 | 95 | 83 | 94 | .231 | .339 | .467 | .806 | 129 | *3/D | AS,MVP-25 |
| 1990 | 26 | OAK | 156 | 523 | 87 | 123 | 16 | 0 | 39 | 108 | 110 | 116 | .235 | .370 | .489 | .859 | 144 | *3/D | AS,MVP-11,GG |
| 1991 | 27 | OAK | 154 | 483 | 62 | 97 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 75 | 93 | 116 | .201 | .330 | .383 | .714 | 103 | *3 | AS |
| 1992 | 28 | OAK | 139 | 467 | 87 | 125 | 22 | 0 | 42 | 104 | 90 | 105 | .268 | .385 | .585 | .970 | 176 | *3 | AS,MVP-4,SS |
| 1993 | 29 | OAK | 27 | 84 | 16 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 24 | 21 | 19 | .333 | .467 | .726 | 1.193 | 225 | 3 | |
| 1994 | 30 | OAK | 47 | 135 | 26 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 37 | 40 | .252 | .413 | .474 | .887 | 138 | 3/D | |
| 1995 | 31 | OAK | 104 | 317 | 75 | 87 | 13 | 0 | 39 | 90 | 88 | 77 | .274 | .441 | .685 | 1.125 | 200 | 3D | AS,MVP-16 |
| 1996 | 32 | OAK | 130 | 423 | 104 | 132 | 21 | 0 | 52 | 113 | 116 | 112 | .312 | .467 | .730 | 1.198 | 196 | *3D | AS,MVP-7,SS |
| 1997 | 33 | TOT | 156 | 540 | 86 | 148 | 27 | 0 | 58 | 123 | 101 | 159 | .274 | .393 | .646 | 1.039 | 170 | *3 | AS,MVP-16 |
| 1997 | 33 | OAK | 105 | 366 | 48 | 104 | 24 | 0 | 34 | 81 | 58 | 98 | .284 | .383 | .628 | 1.012 | 164 | 3 | |
| 1997 | 33 | STL | 51 | 174 | 38 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 42 | 43 | 61 | .253 | .411 | .684 | 1.095 | 182 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 34 | STL | 155 | 509 | 130 | 152 | 21 | 0 | 70 | 147 | 162 | 155 | .299 | .470 | .752 | 1.222 | 216 | *3 | AS,MVP-2,SS |
| 1999 | 35 | STL | 153 | 521 | 118 | 145 | 21 | 1 | 65 | 147 | 133 | 141 | .278 | .424 | .697 | 1.120 | 176 | *3 | AS,MVP-5 |
| 2000 | 36 | STL | 89 | 236 | 60 | 72 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 73 | 76 | 78 | .305 | .483 | .746 | 1.229 | 203 | 3 | AS |
| 2001 | 37 | STL | 97 | 299 | 48 | 56 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 64 | 56 | 118 | .187 | .316 | .492 | .808 | 105 | 3 | |
| 16 Yrs | 1874 | 6187 | 1167 | 1626 | 252 | 6 | 583 | 1414 | 1317 | 1596 | .263 | .394 | .588 | .982 | 163 | ||||