[VanillaGorilla]

9 hitters enter this year. This is the last class that does not have a 1 year retirement minimum.

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Norm Cash finishes his career 2nd on the All Time HR list, to Mark McGwire, with 722 HRs. That gives us a 1-2 combo of a juicer and a corker. However, neither was actually caught and any disparaging comments are nothing but jealous hate, so there will be no more such remarks....ever....really.....

Using the best interwoven carbon fiber / maple wood composite pseudo titanium bats that could be clandestinely procured in the 21st Century black marketplace, Norm Cash made a career out of making baseballs fly just a little bit farther than you thought they would from 1997 through 2016.

The fifth player taken overall in the 1996 draft, by the Pirates, Cash put himself near the top of the career list in all major hitting categories.

Along the way to his 722 HRs, he collected 2663 hits (9th), scored 1788 runs (2nd), and drove in 1957 (2nd). He played in 2560 games (11th), walked 1438 times (6th) and enters the Hall 3rd on the career WAR and VORP lists.

A 12 time All-Star, Cash drove in 100+ runs in 12 consecutive seasons from 2000 through 2011. He scored 100 runs, or more, 10 times in those 12 seasons while never hitting fewer than 34 HRs in a season.

Twice he led the league in HRs, including his 2000 season when he hit 59 while slashing 333/482/724 for a npa OPS+ of 216. In 2010 he hit a career high 65 HRs for a 2nd place league finish.

Cash had a career slash line 297/402/590 is good for a 165 npa OPS+

Cash only appeared in one post season, in 2014. Past his prime, he played in 6 games for Tampa Bay as they won the LDS, but lost the LCS. Cash didn't contribute anything to the cause...literally.....he was 0-for-19...THAT was good for a MINUS 37 npa OPS+.

In spite of this, and his 1896 career strikeouts (4th), Cash enters the Hall as First Ballot inductee on the First Ballot Standard.

Black Ink: 15 (7)
Gray Ink: 210 (104)
HOFm: 268 (50)
HOFs: 66 (29)

Gorilla Composite: 5.1 (1.9)

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Carl Yastrzemski is the second of two players to be entered on their first year of eligibility via the First Ballot Standard.

Taken as the second player in the 1994 draft by the Marlins, Yastrzemski retired in 2016 with 2732 hits (5th), 538 HRs (14th), 1809 RBI (3rd), and 1624 runs scored (5th) in 2623 games played (6th).

His career slash line of 297/389/543 made for a npa OPS+ of 150. His 588 career doubles place him 4th on that career list.

He hit .318 with 29 HRs to win ROY honors in 1995.

In 2000 he won the league MVP by 51 HRs (his first of 3 consecutive 50 HR seasons), driving in and scoring league bests of 159 and 145, respectively, while collecting a league high 213 hits. His slash line of 344/458/672 made for a npa OPS+ of 196. In 2001 and 2002 he hap npa OPS+ scores over 200, but 2000 was his only MVP. All of these seasons were played as a Marlin.

He never saw the post season in a Marlins uniform. His only two post season appearances came in 2015 as an Oriole and in 2016 as a Brave. He never reached a WS.

Yaz appeared in 7 All-Star Games.

Black Ink: 28 (55)
Gray Ink: 156 (206)
HOFm: 211 (215)
HOFs: 62 (60)

Gorilla Composite: 4.8 (6.1)

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Jack Lapp becomes the third player to enter the Hall on the Veteran Standard.

Lapp was drafted as the 10th player overall in the 1980 draft by the Reds. Playing through the 1997 season, he collected 2135 hits (his 2062 as a C is 4th most All Time) and slashed 291/378/409 for a career npa OPS+ of 123.

Lapp was a 5 time All Star.

In 1988 he won the WS with the reds as a 29 year-old along side a 29 year-old Jose B Reyes. Lapp's 311/412/411 line was superior to that of the eventual career hit leader and his VORP for that season of 40.7 was superior to Reyes' 36.4. Lapp retired following the 1997 season.

Black Ink: 6
Gray Ink: 96
HOFm: 144.5
HOFs: 43

Gorilla Composite: 2.7