Hok’s 2024 Royals HOF ballot

The Royals have a fully STACKED Corridor of Fame poll, this 12 months. Had been the balloting limitless, I may simply see a state of affairs the place all 9 candidates had been elected. Sadly we voters are solely allowed to position 5 votes. So I needed to get a bit bit inventive with my poll, this 12 months.

There have been some simpler decisions to be made off the highest of my head. Initially, I knew I used to be going to go away Johnny Damon off. He was an excellent participant for KC, however even followers of that period most likely wouldn’t converse of him first when discussing these groups. He performed much more of his profession exterior KC than in it, even when his longest cease was with Kansas Metropolis. He was my first favourite Royal because of a leadoff house run within the first Royals recreation I ever attended in individual, however he additionally was the primary one to interrupt my coronary heart. All of that collectively means he loses out on this stacked poll and certain would go unelected even when he was the one candidate.

Subsequent up, issues get a bit bit strategic. Alex Gordon is a high Royals participant of all time and was a lifetime participant in Kansas Metropolis. That type of factor will get you voted into the Corridor of Fame. Equally, Wade Davis had one of many best three-year stretches for a reliever of all time and, regardless of missing the saves, is in a dialog for finest Royals reliever ever with Dan Quissenberry and Jeff Montgomery. The best way I see it, these guys are going to get an awesome vote and be elected simply. So, understanding there are 8 guys between whom I need to supply my 5 votes, I select to not elect the shoo-ins in hopes of getting sufficient assist for different guys I consider in. Gordon and Davis don’t get my vote, not as a result of they’re unfit, however as a result of there are extra guys I must get in and I don’t suppose they want my assist.

So listed below are the 5 guys I did vote for.

Billy Butler

I all the time knew I used to be going to vote for Butler as a result of I knew he was a terrific hitter for Kansas Metropolis and since, with out him, the Royals don’t make the playoffs in 2014. He additionally has the most effective moments from these playoffs.

That mentioned, David Lesky wrote over at Contained in the Crown, a a lot better numerical argument for his inclusion.

Let’s take a look at Butler for a second. Listed below are his ranks in Royals historical past offensively which can be very spectacular:

AVG – 4

OBP – 12

SLG – 14

OPS – 12

H – 9

TB – 9

2B – 8

HR – 10

RBI – 8

BB – 7

OPS+ – 9

XBH – 9

Billy is a top-10 hitter for the Royals All-Time. That deserves to be within the Corridor of Fame!

Carlos Beltrán

Beltrán can be a shoo-in for the Royals corridor had David Glass not tried to low-cost out on him over $1 million {dollars}. A few of you’ll say Beltrán has no place within the Corridor of Fame due to the dishonest scandal with the Astros in 2017. To that I might ask why one thing that occurred on a distinct staff greater than a decade after he final performed for the Royals and which didn’t impression them in any means needs to be a consideration for his inclusion within the staff Corridor of Fame.

Past that, Beltrán is extraordinarily doubtless to have the ability to overcome all of that to grow to be an MLB Corridor of Famer participant. There’s no excuse for excluding a man from a staff Corridor when he was adequate to make the MLB Corridor and good chunk of it was carried out whereas enjoying to your staff.

Joakim Soria

Joakim Soria was so good for the Royals that he as soon as obtained Cy Younger Award votes and MVP votes as a aid pitcher for a Royals staff that misplaced 95 video games. He saved 43 of the staff’s 67 wins that season. He completed his profession with three extra saves than Greg Holland, which leaves him third all-time in profession saves for the Royals behind solely legendary closers Jeff Montgomery and Dan Quisenberry.

I’ll admit, he was the final one I made a decision to vote for. However we’ll speak about how he barely edged out the others once we speak about them.

Jarrod Dyson

As I’ve matured as a baseball fan, I regularly discovered that some stats – like batting common and RBIs – weren’t as significant as others. I additionally started to study to low cost the worth of things like “veteran presence.” However as I matured much more, I noticed a few of these issues do nonetheless matter. Simply in several methods than I had understood as a toddler.

One of many issues that issues relating to Corridor of Fame, to me, is whether or not you’ll be able to inform the story of baseball (or a staff, within the case of the staff Corridor of Fame) with out mentioning that participant. You can’t inform the story of the Royals with out Jarrod Dyson. He was the epitome of the underdog spirit that helped energy the Royals from 2013-2015.

So long as I dwell, I’ll by no means have the ability to neglect listening to about how he was a Fiftieth-round choose, a draft slot that now not existed lengthy earlier than 2020 got here and wiped away one other massive chunk of the draft together with many minor league groups. As I discussed once we mentioned the podcast on a current episode of Royals Rundown, each time I take into consideration the perfect second to be a Royals fan will probably be the entire 2014 Wild Card recreation. And once I consider the perfect second in that Wild Card recreation, I consider Jarrod Dyson stealing third base in opposition to Athletics’ nearer Sean Doolittle within the ninth inning whereas the Royals nonetheless trailed by one. After which capping all of it off with a motorbike revving celebration as the gang, which had been loud all night time, reached new decibel ranges.

Jarrod Dyson belongs within the Royals Corridor of Fame.

Kelvin Herrera

Herrera’s case is extraordinarily just like Wade Davis’s, however he doesn’t have the saves or the identical degree of dominance. However, as simply talked about with Dyson, there’s extra to the Corridor of Fame than uncooked numbers. Herrera meets comparable standards, and so he additionally will get my vote. If you happen to don’t find yourself with all three members of HDH within the Royals Corridor of Fame, what are you even doing?

Yordano Ventura will get disregarded

Which means, along with Damon, Davis, and Gordon, I didn’t vote for Yordano Ventura. I do know a lot of you will note that as sacrilegious due to his premature passing and “what may need been.” And actually, what may need been will maybe hang-out us all ceaselessly. However he additionally obtained worse each full season he was within the massive leagues.

I used to be up entrance on the high of this text that, if I had my means, I’d vote for eight and even all 9 candidates. However I can’t, and I selected to worth Joakim Soria’s precise contributions increased than Ventura’s potential contributions. I don’t begrudge any of you if you happen to select in a different way, I feel if you happen to requested me on a distinct day I’d select in a different way.

With that mentioned, I hope we see no less than three or 4 guys go on this 12 months. The poll isn’t going to grow to be any much less stacked any time quickly as gamers like Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Vargas, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, and Greg Holland all grow to be eligible very quickly.