Randy Johnson's resume had it all: Top of the heap career numbers. Eye-popping numbers over single seasons and long stretches. Multiple Cy Youngs. Legendary World Series performance. I know there's some old canard about nobody ever getting 100%, but holy crap guys, give it a rest on that. To vote against Johnson you have to have some sort of a problem.
Pedro's career was not as lengthy, but his resume includes a decent stretch of total domination, plus he was key guy for championships. I agree there.
Smoltz had as many wins but it took him longer to get them. I view him as a lesser candidate than Pedro because, to be honest, for most of his career he was the # 3 guy on his own team, with the exception of the one Cy Young year. I think his post-season performances earned him his spot, but I would not have been upset if it had taken him another year to make the cut.
Biggio should've gotten in before. Here was a totally clean player with 3,000+ hits, a decent defender at three positions, at one time pretty decent on the bases, and a winner at times for a franchise that hasn't won often (and next to never before him or since him). Glad he wasn't strung along any longer.
Of those who didn't get it this time, my "one man's opinion":
McGriff-- clean as a whistle in an era dominated by PED's, just shy of 500 HR's. Among clean players, that's a HOF pedigree. The downside is that he was such a poor defender. Still, I can't help feeling he's getting shafted because he stayed clean, and to me, voting him in would send a great message -- a nice guy finishing first.
Piazza was also a sub-par defender, and at a position where defense typically comes first. But as anyone can tell you, hitting for a full season while catching is tough. When your legs are tight or worn out, it's hard to get your base under you, to drive the ball consistently. He did it at a record level. At some point I feel like he has to make the cut.
Schilling doesn't make it IMHO. He had a strong stretch but not at a Pedro level. He doesn't make up for that with an unusually long career (as with Sutton). I think a lot of his rep comes from the inordinate attention the Red Sox get these days, with the hole bloody sock thing and all. His tendency to shoot from the lip recklessly and inaccurately, coupled with the stains from his post-baseball problems, are going to leave him short of hero status.
Mussina is probably the closest anyone has come to the Sutton model in recent years. Never totally dominant, just reliably very good for a very long time. But not long enough IMHO. Well short of Blyleven or Morris, as comparisons.
Edgar Martinez was a very strong hitter but way too much of a one-dimensional guy. If McGriff was bad on defense, consider that at least McGriff made the starting nine; Edgar couldn't. And he didn't put up McGriff's power numbers, either. The only argument for Edgar is that Seattle hasn't had many guys. That's not a good enough argument.
Raines is a tough one. What do you do with a guy who was an A- guy for so long, even past 40? He falls short of 3,000 hits, but maybe makes up for it with his steals. Given what a great guy he was, my heart wishes he'd make it some day. Maybe he falls into that Tony Perez category.