ATLANTA, GA- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BUCKHEAD BOWTIES
2034 Public Hall of Fame Ballot
Ray Sears-3B
| Highlights: 75 WAR, 8 Gold Gloves, +148 ZR, 142 OPS +, 2023 PL MVP |
| -backbone of great Brooklyn teams |
| -all time WAR leader |
| -survived 92 games in Montana |
The two- way Texan was a shoo in for his dominance on both sides of the baseball. Coming of age at the perfect time to be snatched up by the first dynasty in USBA history. The 22 year old was a staple at the hot corner for Brooklyn for nearly a decade. Often overshadowed by his flashier infield partner Thom Wilcox Sears plugged away and will now enter the Holy Grail just to the left of him, like old times.
Thom Wilcox-2b/DH
| Highlights: 67. 5 WAR, 174 OPS+, 1000+ BB, 268 HRs |
| -Brooklyn Man from start to finish |
| -1st G.O.A.T |
| -The 1-1-1 pick in 2013 |
| -Didn’t own a glove for the last 6 years of his career |
| -Rumored affair with owner/GM |
Another Texan whose in game “Red Ink” is second only to the Bible. “Porker” was the first true star from the beginning in 2013 when he was the first ever member of the USBA. From his first day in Brooklyn he showed that it was a genius move selecting him 1-1. Big Cox turned in great season after great season for nearly a decade. As a bonus, he never had to play for Montana.
Mike Silver- “1b”
| Highlights: 369 HRs, 163 OPS+, 2xMVP |
| -High peak (7.1, 7.2, 4.5, 6.9 WAR) |
| -Took advantage of bad lower leagues, but he did dominate them |
| -SL single season HR leader |
| -Quit after playing 27 games with Montana |
The only player on this years ballot that was so good he got a whole league named after him. While playing for Casper before ghosting them for Louisville, Mikey dominated the lower leagues of the USBA to the tune of 50+ dongs a season. This below average fielder was a great player for 13 USBA seasons before 107 ABs with Montana in 2027 completely snuffed out his desire to play baseball.
Tony Dyer- LF
| Highlights: .347 career BA, 152 OPS+, 2018 MVP, 1802 hits |
| -USBA didn’t start until he was 26 |
| -won the first 6 PL batting titles |
| -made $134,000,000 playing a kids game |
With a lefty swing as pure as the driven snow in his hometown of Traverse City, Michigan Dyer terrorized PL pitching staffs for a decade. Tony is still the gold standard for hitters at the USBAs highest level. His approach was to spray the ball to all fields and he was rewarded with the most hits of all time. Even though Dyer hit for a very high average he had some pop in his bat to the tune of 200+ HRs in all competitions. “Pop” is what people from Traverse City call soda.
Michael Greene- OF
| Highlights: 2016 MVP, 147 OPS+ |
| -debut at the age of 28 |
| -3.6 WAR at the age of 29 |
| -first Boston star |
While he wore many hats in his career, he will always go down at the first True Boston Star™. Leaving his life of churning butter in Pennsylvania at the age of 28 to join the upstart USBA he had an immediate impact on the league’s most historic franchise. Even though he got a late start Greene stayed around as long as he could having great seasons well into his late 30s.
Don Brown- C
| Highlights: 1.056 OPS, 177 OPS+ |
| -10.7 WAR SL all time single season record |
| -first appeared at 34 |
| -hit .424 |
The Paul Bunyan of the USBA has morphed into more fiction than fact in years following his retirement. He was a legend as soon as he stepped out of that Virginia woods to post a 10+ WAR season in his mid 30s. As time slips past few walk the earth that can remember what Don Brown was able to do to Silver League pitching staffs in its early days. He man no equal in the season where he lead the league in 9 categories. As the rush of the USBA waters cascade by lets not forget the men, nay giants, that made it all possible in the first place.
Chad Armstrong- 1B
| Highlights: 144 OPS+, 53.9 WAR |
| -1st baseman for heart of the Boston dynasty |
| -won 4 lower league titles |
| -5 Gold Gloves |
Stop me if you heard this story before. A great young Grafton player is traded to Boston for nothing and then goes on to become one of the best at his position in USBA history. A tale as old as time. Armstrong was an important cog in a lot of lineups and was a dude that won wherever he went. Some league archives contend that he won a championship of some sort as a member of the Montana Pandas, but I think that was just a stain on the parchment in the league offices.
Enrique “MV” Perez-C
| Highlights: 64.6 WAR, 131 OPS+ |
| -350 HRs in all competitions |
| -3 hitters of the year in the PL |
| -2 Gold Gloves |
Quite simply the best dude at his position in USBA history. MVPerez was able to get it done behind the plate picking up two Gold Gloves as well as at the dish winning 3 Platinum Sticks. His Hall of Fame career is bookended by two stints in Toledo where he always felt the most at home. Even though Enrique won many other places, Tololdedo is where he put his stamp on the game.
Ryan Davis- SP/RP
| Highlights: 9.6 WAR season, 2.66 career ERA, 169 ERA+ |
| -didn’t debut until age 27 |
| -worked as a starter and as a reliever |
| -quit after playing a season for Montana |
While you can argue the USBA was a different world when Ryan Davis entered it what you can’t argue is that he was the best of that world. As a young Grafton player, (editor’s note: How was Grafton not a lot better?) he lit the world on fire in 2015 with a 9.6 WAR season and followed it up by being the best pitcher the next year as well. After a pretty pedestrian season, by Davis’s standards, he was able to reinvent himself down in the SL and find his dominating ways for Good Chicago. Swallowing his pride, Davis took a call to the bullpen in his mid 30s cementing his already legendary status with a sub 2 ERA in 2023. The move to the mound extended his career another 5-6 years past when many would hang it up.
Ramon Ortega- SP
| Highlights: 50.6 WAR, |
| -heart of Brooklyn dynasty |
| -most IPs in PL history |
| -steady player |
Ortega was a rock solid player for Brookyln who did not appear to have a downside. What he lacks in black ink he makes up for in stacking numbers upon numbers. He was oftentimes drowned out by the shouts of “WILCOX!”, but he kept plodding along to the Hall anyways. He will join his brothers from the glory days in the hall and his plaque will be just as bronze even though he kept his mouth shut.
Jim Elliott- SP
| Highlights: 2018 Golden Ball, two 8+ WAR seasons |
| -heart of peak Brooklyn dynasty |
| -high peak |
| -from Alaska where its cold |
It is fitting that Jim Elliott is from Alaska because he had a higher peak than anyone in USBA history. He showed up as a young punk at in his early 20s, dominated, then rode off into the sunset less than a decade later. Even if you consider Fort Worth “professional baseball” he was only able to eek less than 10 seasons out of his injury riddled arm. When he was around though he was great racking up two 8+ WAR seasons for the glory days of the Dodgers. While he seems like a flash in the pan those of us that witnessed his 1.40 ERA season will never forget it.
Roy Robinson- RP
| Highlights: lowest FIP- in history, |
| -4 league titles for Boston |
| -threw less than 500 IP |
| -greatest closer ever |
There is dignity in all work, and Roy Robinson proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the time that he toed the rubber he was the most dominant man ever to throw a baseball in his league. However, he was rarely out there on the mound. The knock on Roy Rob is that he was a seldom used old school reliever, but we can’t hold it against him that his manager was too dumb to run him out there more. As he enters the hall RR should be given more credit for his three straight seasons with a sub 1 ERA.
Sozen Raikatuji- SP
| Highlights: sub 3 career ERA, 7.3 WAR season, |
| -27 year old debut |
| -two championships |
| -never made less than 15M a season |
Raij took the USBA by storm in 2016 when he left the comfort of Japan to try his hand in the new upstart league. It was the promise of playing against the best players in the world, or $162,000,000 that convinced him to come across the pond. Once over here he rode the newly formed Louisville Slugs to the PL where they won it all in their first season. He didn’t look back from there squeezing every drop he could out of his right arm before hanging it up. Even though his time here was brief, he elevated pitching in the USBA before he quit.
Manuel Villarreal- RF
| Highlights: 40.5 WAR, 228 HRs |
| -3 Gold Gloves |
| -heart of Boston dynasty |
| -debut at age 29 |
It would be impossible to tell the story of the USBA without understanding the work of Villarreal. The Texan was the solid everyday right fielder for Boston and the heart of their dynastic run. Despite making his debut at age 29 he averaged 5 WAR a season until he was 36. While he may not have lead the league in as many categories, Villarreal was a consummate all-around player that shaped the USBA into the best league in the world.
Chester Henry- SP
| Highlights: sparkling eyes, a curve ball that made it move in your pants, 133 ERA+ |
| -1-1 pick in the first true draft |
| -cut down in his prime |
| -easy to say he would have been the best pitcher ever |
Though he burned brief, he burned bright. Henry was taken at the top of the 2014 first year player draft and wasted no time in claiming his spot as a great in the game. He posted a 2.8 WAR season at age 20 in the PL and never looked back. Sadly, Cheeto’s career was cut short by a tragic baseballing accident that nearly derailed the life of his GM as well. Prior to Henry rupturing his finger tendon in 2023 he was on his way to becoming the greatest pitcher in USBA history. From age 18-27 Henry put up 31.9 WAR. You have to assume he stays at that level until he is 55 at least giving him around 100 WAR. If you want to keep out a guy with basically 100 WAR you need to have your head examined.