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In an offensive era, where records and milestones are continuously coming into question, few eyebrows are raised suspiciously toward the achievements of pitchers. So, where the top offensive player of this generation stands on shaky ground with regards to his future Hall of Fame induction, the top two pitchers– Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux– are already booking hotel reservations for Cooperstown and scheduling tee-times at the Leatherstocking Golf Course.

For the next eight top pitchers… they’ll have to read this article before they start making flight plans. Who’s Going to the Hall, and Who’s Watching the Ceremony on Baseball Tonight, by Garrett Rudolph.

There is only one position player in baseball right now whose statistics are good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame, no questions asked. I won’t even mention his name, but we all know who I am talking about and we all know that his off-field endeavors might eventually cost him his admittance slip, just like it cost Pete Rose. That is an argument for another day, another time, and certainly, another writer.

But for the other 99.9% of baseball there is the potential for some argument one way or the other. With that said, here is the definitive list: Who’s In and Who’s Out amongst the top 9 candidates, according to Garrett Rudolph.

Lot of movement this week. White Sox get dethroned by the streaking Mets. Athletics and Astros take jumps forward. On the other hand, all of a sudden, the Braves and Diamondbacks look like double-A teams.

The All-Star Game is just around the corner, and after that, the trade deadline, which means teams have to start making important personnel decisions.

My last boyfriend didn’t know what a bunt was. He thought it was some kind of pastry sold at Yankee Stadium. I would dangle baseball-relationship metaphors above his head, and he would just roll his eyes and return his attention back to playing Halo 2. Which is probably why warning him the trade deadline was coming up on his heels didn’t sound any foreboding bells.  So when the logistics of dating a man who defined a grand slam as “a homerun, sort of, but better?” became more frustrating than watching A-Rod bat, I readjusted my Fantasy Team, moving my now ex from my starting rotation to waiver wires.