Former Mariner Randy Johnson Makes Hall of Fame Ballot Debut

The 2015 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame ballots are out, and former Mariner Randy Johnson is on the ballot for the first time.

Johnson joins other first-time nominees John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez, Gary Sheffield and 14 others.

I will go into greater detail as to who I would vote for in a later post, but for now, it is worth noting that the ballot is getting more and more crowded with “worth” players. Regardless of where you stand personally on players like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, we all can probably agree that Randy Johnson belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Randy was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 2nd round of the 1985 draft. He was traded to Seattle in May of 1989 in a five player deal that sent Mark Langston to Montreal.

Over the course of his 22-year career, he spent nine and a half years in Seattle (longer than any other team) where he posted a record of 130-74 with an ERA of 3.42. He was an All-Star five times in Seattle and won a Cy Young in 1995 when he went 18-2 with an ERA of 2.48, helping the Mariners to their first ever postseason.

He had considerable success in his eight seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks including four straight Cy Young awards and a World Series victory (and WS MVP honors) in 2001.

It is because of that success in the desert that the Hall may select the Diamondbacks as Randy’s logo on the cap of his plaque when he is inevitably voted in. Greg Maddux and Tony LaRussa both elected to enter the Hall in 2014 with no logo on their cap, but typically, the Hall selects based on where the player made their biggest mark.

You could argue both Seattle and Arizona for Randy. Hopefully we don’t run into an issue like we did with Andre Dawson where the Hall picked Montreal for his cap, when he preferred the Cubs.

So, obviously, if I ask a bunch of Mariners fans, they will overwhelmingly say Seattle. But I’m going to ask anyways.

In the comment section below, not only pick which logo Randy should be enshrined with but also tell me why (because I’m a M’s fan doesn’t count). It would be nice if Edgar could get enough votes to go in with Randy this year.

Ballots must be postmarked by Dec. 27 and the results will be revealed January 6, 2015.