Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Baseball Hall of Fame Voting:
Ripken, Gwynn In; McGwire Way Out
Two questions on the HOF results: (1) Who were the 1.5 percent of voters (aka "Asshats") who didn't think Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were Hall-worthy? Can we please take away their privilege of being a Hall of Fame voter? The system needs an audit. (2) Who had "23.5" in the office pool for McGwire's percentage of ballots he would be named on? (Seems about right to me: Half the voters are never going to vote for him, and the other half were going to split evenly between those who would vote for him this year and those who will vote for him next year.) -- D.S.
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17 comments:
The only thing that bugs me is that Jim Rice should get into the hall of fame and again he is left out.
Is it just writers that have the privilege of electing the HOF inductees? Wouldn't it make sense to actually have players vote as well?
Gossage missed by 3.8%, which if I am not mistaken, one of the closer 'near-misses' of the HOF election.
Why is nobody talking about the inherent conflict of interest in the HOF voting? The longer Big Mac stays on the ballot, the longer voters can write about why they are/aren't voting for him and other things about the issue. Put McGwire in, and there's a couple weeks to debate it, then the issue fades away and nobody really gives a shit anymore (see: Rose, Pete). Also, voters might be more compelled to vote for a player they know they can write stories about than a player that doesn't command such headlines.
Who were the 1.5 percent of voters (aka "Asshats") who didn't think Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were Hall-worthy?
Your garden variety "If Ruth-Aaron-Jesus Christ Himself weren't voted in unanimously, then why does CAL RIPKEN deserve to be" asshats. Basically, people who think past mistakes are current tradition, and that said tradition will be upheld. I think we'll always get idiots who won't vote for someone, not because they think the guy isn't a hall of famer, but because they know everyone thinks that, and feel (in their delusionally self-inflated minds) that they got to vote no or hand in a blank ballot to single-handedly preserve the game's integrity.
And don't forget our dear friend in Chicago, who turned in an entirely blank ballot because he refuses to vote in anyone who ever played in the "steroid era," which he helpfully defines as 1993-2004. Which, in addition to being ass-hat-ish in the extreme, doesn't really hold up to a lot of logical sense.
Shawn Merriman should pray to whatever god he believes in, giving thanks that he chose to pursue a steriod-filled career in the NFL rather than baseball. (Did anyone see that FAWNING halftime interview with him on Fox?) McGuire gets punished by over 70% of the voters when he never failed a test...Merriman is hailed from every corner when he's a proven cheat. Go figure.
What about the funnier things ... Albert Belle gets 19 votes (i would pay to see his HOF speech) ...
Bobby Bonilla actually gets 2 votes?!?! ...
Scott Brosious gets ZERO votes (so much for a Yankee bias!)
Alber Bellle is already in the Hall of Fame.
Dude who didn't vote for anyone should've voted for Blyleven. He last played in 1992.
Maybe the BBWA are just waiting for me to have the $$ to go to Cooperstown for Rik Aalbert's induction. Couldn't do it this year, for sure.
Perhaps someone would suggest starting their own Hall of Fame? That'd be cool....a "rival" museum.....
@ guyinthecorner:
Care to elaborate? Last I checked, there was no Hall of Fame for "Worst Contract" or "Worst Teammate".
If there was, though, Barry Bonds would be a guaranteed First Ballot Lock.
Ripken
I don't know, a few "no" votes are deserved just because Ripken was staying in for "the streak"
Hall of fame first half, hall of very good second half career
I still think Morris and Trammel are getting hosed, and I'm not even a Tigers fan
Its really funny how the media is attacking Big Mac and other suspected steroid users, when back in the mid to late 90's, the CRUCIFIED anyone who date suggest that McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, etc were on the juice.
And now they act all self rigteous and high and mighty.
Fuck sportswriters. I don't like the juicers either, but fuck the sportswriters.
Not you Shanoff.
Big Mac is easily one of the top-3 power guys in the modern era. He should be in the HOF by year 3. If not, well.. there WILL be a shake-up.
Seriously. HOF voters are just arrogant pricks who do what they want. And I'm assuming that in the next couple of years, a lot of those old bastards will die.
As for Bonds and Sosa... well... you can track Bonds' career along his use of steroids. In 1992 he couldn't throw SID FUCKING BREAM out from shallow left field, and Bream running from second. 6 years later, Bonds' hat doesn't fit, he's an ass to the media, and can't play D.
At least Big Mac was a) accessible, b) was always a deep threat (see his 50 HR season as a rookie), and c) DID, IN FACT, HELP SAVE BASEBALL IN 1998.
That gets me to my last rant. People look back and say, well, Sammy and Mark, they didn't *really* save baseball. Baseball was on its way back.
That's bullshit! Sosa-McGwire saved baseball in a way that these media fucks will never understand. The media just assumes that sports will be there for them to write about... but fans, well, we know the truth. That incredible '98 run, that saved baseball for millions of fans... and ratings are all that counts.
bullshit on 98 saving baseball.
That was as much a media creation as anything.
i watched a few games with sosa and mcgwire and was disgusted.
1999 was the year baseball was saved for me with the Cinderella Cincy Reds.
Not 1998 with the Juice Bags of MLB.
Mac should be in the hall. When my grandparents took me to the HOF when I was little, my grandfather was able to tell me about the players since I had never seen any of them play. All the great players from when I started watching (early 90's) are now going to get snubbed just because they may have cheated? Fuck that. I am going to remember that I never once turned the channel when Big Mac was at the plate, I cannot say the same about Cal.
My problem is with power hitters who do nothing else. To me, in an era where shortstops now hit 40 home runs, we have to ask what else did the guy do. Defense is important. Average, clutch hitting, postseason performance are all important.
I would say that Reggie Jackson did not belong if he didn't have his clutch postseason performances.
On the other hand, I am happy to see that none of the voters voted for the bottom 4 or 5 guys. That to me is the litmus test to determine if a voter should keep their credentials. If you vote for Scott Brosius (nothing against him personally mind you) then you lose your voting privilege.
I agree with kmv9....
Forget about the people who didn't vote for Ripken or Gwynn, who are the 3 idiots who thought Dante Bichette deserves to be in the Hall of Fame...or the 1 person who voted for Jay Buhner?!?
Also, Jose Canseco receives 6 votes, and Ken Caminiti receives 2 votes?!? So two guys who admitted to using steriods when they won their MVP awards receive HOF votes??? Something's definitely wrong there....
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