I voted for Bonds, Clemens, Jeter, Manny, Schilling, and would have voted for Rolen as well.
Walker just doesn't get there for me, given what other corner OFers were doing offensively during his era, plus where he did most of his damage, on top of durability issues hurting his counting stats. Rolen gets there for the level of defense that he played at his position for years.
I'm actually not a big HOF guy, I'd happily throw out a bunch of guys already in there (Rice, Morris, Dawson, BAINES, and so on), but I think the HOF exists to tell the story of baseball through the years. I don't think you're telling the story of the best/most famous players of that era without Bonds, Clemens, Jeter, Manny, or even Schilling, and I think Rolen just barely merits inclusion.
Walker just doesn't get there for me, given what other corner OFers were doing offensively during his era, plus where he did most of his damage, on top of durability issues hurting his counting stats. Rolen gets there for the level of defense that he played at his position for years.
I'm actually not a big HOF guy, I'd happily throw out a bunch of guys already in there (Rice, Morris, Dawson, BAINES, and so on), but I think the HOF exists to tell the story of baseball through the years. I don't think you're telling the story of the best/most famous players of that era without Bonds, Clemens, Jeter, Manny, or even Schilling, and I think Rolen just barely merits inclusion.