Today is one of my favorite days of the year in sports.  I have loved watching baseball for as long as I can remember and have always been fascinated with the Hall of Fame and the players that have been enshrined.

Today is the day where a new bunch of players have their names listed with the legends of the game.  Today is the day where the Hall of Fame voting for the 2014 class gets announced.

As I have been thinking about who deserves that honor I started to put myself in the shoes of a voter and who I would vote for this year.

There are a ridiculous amount of players on the ballot who deserve to be in the Hall.  The voters messed it up years ago for whatever reason and now it is going to effect some of the greatest players I have ever seen.  Hall worthy players will fall off the ballot this year because of this travesty.  Here are all the players on the ballot this year who deserve a spot or a least serious consideration.

Greg Maddux: Maddux has a record of 355-227.  He won four CY Young Awards in a row and finished in the top three an additional three times.  He was an eight time all-star and won the Gold Glove 18 times.  He had the most pin-point control of any pitcher in this generation.  He was on of the few pitchers in today’s game who didn’t have to beat you with an over-powering fastball.

Tom Glavine: Glavine was 305-203.  He won a pair of Cy Young Awards and finished in the top three an additional four times.  He was a 10 time all-star and won the silver slugger four times as the National Leagues best hitting pitcher.

Frank Thomas: Thomas hit 521 home runs and knocked in 1,704 runs while batting .301 for his career.  He won two MVP Awards and finished in the top five four other times.  He won four silver slugger awards and was a five time all-star.

Craig Biggio: Biggio batted .281 with 291 home runs and 1,175 RBI while collecting 3.060 hits.  He finished in the top five in MVP voting twice and was a seven time all-star.  He won five silver slugger awards and the gold glove four times.

Jack Morris: even though Morris has a record of 254-186 he was the most dominant big game pitcher of his era.  He finished in the top five of Cy Young voting five times and was a five time all-star.

Barry Bonds: Bonds won the MVP award seven times and finished in the top five an additional five times. He was the most feared hitter in the game for more than a decade and had one of the best eye’s at the plate I have ever seen.  He holds the record for home runs and walks as well as winning eight gold gloves and 12 silver slugger awards.

Roger Clemens: Clemens has 354 wins and only 184 losses.  He won seven Cy Young awards while finishing in the top three an additional three times.  He had 118 complete games and was an 11 time all-star.

Fred McGriff: the “crime dog” batted .284 with 493 home runs and 1,550 RBI’s.  He was a five time all-star who won three silver slugger awards and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting six straight years.

Rafael Palmeiro: Palmeiro hit 38 or more home runs for nine straight seasons and ended his career with 3,020 hits 569 home runs and 1,835 RBI’s.  He was a four-time all-star as well as winning three gold gloves and two silver sluggers.

Mike Piazza: Piazza is one of the best hitting catchers to ever play the game.  He batted .308, hit 427 home runs and had 1,335 RBI’s. He finished top five in MVP voting five times including back-to-back years as the runner-up.  Piazza was a 12 time all-star and won the silver slugger 10 times.

Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire: They are listed together because they saved the game of baseball after the strike. The Chase for the home run record in 1998 brought so many people back to the game after they had left in disgust following 1994. Sosa is a seven-time all-star and six-time silver slugger who hit 609 home runs and had 1,667 RBI’s. He won the MVP in 1998 and was the runner-up in 2001. McGwire was a 12-time all-star won a gold glove and three silver slugger awards.  He hit 583 home runs and had 1,414 RBI’s.  He won the Rookie of the Year in 1987 and finished top five in MVP voting three times including being runner-up to Sosa in 1998.

Curt Schilling: Schilling was 216-146.  He finished running-up in the Cy Young voting three times and was a six-time all-star.  He was also one of the most electrifying performers in the post season. Schilling has an 11-2 record in 19 starts with four complete games and two shut outs.

Edgar Martinez: Martinez is a career .312 hitter who finished with 309 home runs and 1,261 RBI’s.  He was a seven-time all-star who won five silver slugger’s and won two batting crowns.

Jeff Kent: Kent is one of the best power-hitting second basemen of all-time.  He batted .280 with 377 home runs and 1,518 RBI’s. He was a five-time all-star who won four silver slugger’s and an MVP in 2000.

Jeff Bagwell: Bagwell hit 449 home runs and knocked in 1,529 runs while batting .297.  He was the National League MVP in 1994 and finished in the top three two other times.  He was a four-time all-star who won three silver slugger awards and a gold glove.

Mike Mussina: Mussina was 270-153.He finished top five in Cy Young voting six times and was a five time all-star.  He also won seven gold gloves.

Tim Raines: Raines is a seven-time all-star who batted .294 while stealing 808 career bases.  He led the National league in stolen bases four times, doubles once and runs scored twice.

Larry Walker: Walker batted .313 with 383 home runs and 1,311 RBI’s.  He won the MVP in 1997 and was a five time all-star.  He won the gold glove seven times and the silver slugger three times.

Alan Trammell: Trammell should have been in the Hall years ago.  He batted .285 with 1,003 RBI’s.  He was a six-time all-star who won four gold gloves at short stop and three silver slugger awards.

Luis Gonzalez: Gonzalez was a run producing machine and had the biggest hit in Diamondbacks history to win their only world series.  He batted 2.83 with 354 home runs and 1,439 RBI’s.  He was a five time all-star who also won a silver slugger.

Don Mattingly: “Donny Baseball” was one of the best players in the game from 1984-1989.  He was a doubles machine.  He was a six-time all-star who won nine gold gloves and three sliver slugger’s.  Mattingly also won an MVP in 1985 and finished as the runner-up a year later.

Lee Smith: Smith had 478 saves as a closer and was a seven time all-star.  he also finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times including a runner-up finish in 1991.

I don’t know who cheated the game and who didn’t. I just know what players did on the field and so that is what I base my voting on.

For those who were caught cheating, all you have to do is put that on their plaque.

My thought process is that players have been doing their best to cheat since the game began.  Whether it was spit balls or using sand paper or cutting the ball or using greenies or steroids it is all the same to me.

The only thing we know for sure is how these greats dominated on the field and that is more than enough for me.

On a side note: Anyone who doesn’t vote for Greg Maddux (unless there reasoning is that Maddux is a lock and they want to safe a guy from falling off the ballot who deserves serious consideration) needs to have their voting privileges removed.  The reason is because anyone that knows baseball at all cant in good conscience has a valid reason to leave one of the greatest pitchers of all time of their ballot.

I have to say that the Hall of Fame voting process has drove me crazy for years.  Last year was especially maddening as a fan. Watching Dale Murphy get less than 20 percent in his final year of eligibility just made no sense.  He was a great player.  One of the best of the 80’s, but he gets no love.  Also seeing Kenny Lofton fall off the Ballot just baffled me.  He at least deserved some consideration.

The worst part however was not seeing Biggio, Piazza, Schilling, Bonds, Clemens and Sosa get in.  All six were on the ballot for the first time and deserved to get in.  The stand that the writers took not voting anyone in is what has left us with the mess we are currently in.  It’s time to drop the act. Quit trying to play God here.  No one cares about your morality stance.  There are plenty of less than savory characters in the Baseball Hall of Fame because it wasn’t about that; It is about what you do on the field.