If I Had a Hall-of-Fame Vote, I'd Have Picked....

I don't have a Hall-of-Fame vote. Maybe that's good. Maybe it's not. I can't say the fans do a great job with All-Star Game voting, but the writers have screwed up plenty too, right?

Even so, we all know who was on the ballot, and we all know you can vote for a max of ten players. With that in mind, who would I have voted for?

1. Randy Johnson- This is an easy vote, right? The Big Unit was dominating in just about every city he went to, and can make an argument for being the best lefty ever.
2. Pedro Martinez- Like Johnson, an easy vote. Both are top ten pitchers ever, in my opinion.
3. Craig Biggio- In my opinion, he should already be in. What possessed writers to leave him off?
4. Mike Piazza- Now we dig into the meat of the debate over the steroid era. Piazza is a guy on the fringe of suspicion, who statistically and based on prominence, should be a first ballot guy. He's not, but he should get in.
5. Curt Schilling- Yep, i'm head-first in it. I personally can't stand Schilling for many reasons, but the argument for him is easy- headlined two World Series winning staffs (with Johnson and Pedro), was the premiere big-game pitcher of his generation, lined up Cy Young runner-up finishes like crazy, and you can't write the history of the game without him. I know, steroid era. I'm over it.
6. Barry Bonds- He's the best on-the-field player of all-time. Did he cheat? Yeah. Did most of the guys he played against? Yeah. The Hall-of-Fame is a museum, are we going to pretend the 1990s aren't a part of history? Put him in, and say he cheated on his plaque. Everyone's happy then.
7. Roger Clemens- Insert the word pitcher for player, and his case is the same as Bonds, but maybe better. Did Clemens outperform everyone in his era? YES. Did he win a ring? Yes. Can you ignore his accomplishments in the game? No.
8. John Smoltz- I don't wish to put down Smoltz's career, putting him after the steroid guys, because he's never been accused of anything. Smoltz rates slightly below Schilling statistically, and so I'd simply say it comes to preference. He deserves to be in though. His achievements as a starter put him close, but combined with his closing, he should be a lock.
9. Mark McGwire- I know, he has no chance. With that said, i'm not holding players out for steroid use, alleged or not. Can you replay baseball from 1988 up through the early 2000s without McGwire? No. Again, like with Bonds and Clemens, note the suspicions, and put the player in. It's historically accurate.
10. Sammy Sosa- Everything I said about McGwire, again.

There are other deserving players who can't make the ten cut thanks to the stupid rules and backlog created by baseball writer pontificating over steroids.. Jeff Bagel, Lee Smith, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff, Alan Trammell, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, and possibly more deserve consideration. 

My guess is that Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Craig Biggio, and Mike Piazza make it. We'll see at 2 pm I guess.