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If you haven't been following, every year in early January, the Baseball Writers Association of America announces the results of their Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Announcing who actually was voted in (by receiving 75% of the vote) and of course, those that will have to wait til next year (or never).

A player must have been retired for 5 years before they can become eligible for voting. So last year, most of the 1st year class was tainted by PED's (Bonds, Clemens). This year, however, were some very deserving candidates.

Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald, as well as a couple of national shows on ESPN & ESPN Radio, has become so disillusioned with his fellow BBWAA members & their voting habits, that he decided to turn his ballot over to the hands of an online poll via Deadspin. Readers voted for the 10 players they felt were worthy of induction, & LeBatard filled out his ballot accordingly. The readers voted for a perfectly fine selection of players, & other than Barry Bonds & Roger Clemens, there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

Then Deadspin announced who they got the vote from, & all hell broke loose. After a day of defending himself, LeBatard had resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to lose his vote. Well today the BBWAA announced that he was, in fact suspended from the BBWAA for a year, & he had lost his privilege to vote for the HoF forever.

Meanwhile, these sanctimonious jackasses in the BBWAA still see fit to use this vote to grandstand for whatever cause they see fit. Greg Maddux, a player whom many felt could possibly become the first player ever to garner 100% of the votes, was not listed on 16 or the 571 ballots cast. One member of the BBWAA, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, cast his vote for one player - Jack Morris (who coincidentally was up for election for his 15th & final time). His reasoning? He couldn't be sure who did & didn't take PED's, so he wouldn't vote for anybody who played during that era. One problem, the back half of Jack Morris' career was played during that era. Nice try asshole.

So I'll point out the one statement from the previous paragraph that I find incredible & quite telling:

No player ever, EVER, in the history of the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame, has been elected with 100% of the vote.

Ever.

Babe Ruth? 95% Cy Young? Barely got in at 76%. DiMaggio - 89%. Ted Williams - 93%. Mickey Mantle - 88. Willie Mays - 95. Hank Aaron - 98. Tom Seaver - 99. Nolan Ryan - 99.

Cal Ripken Jr. CAL freakin RIPKEN was left off of 8 ballots when he was elected. If that isn't telling, I don't know what is.

Something needs to change. I'm not sure how, but these self-important jackholes need some adjusting somewhere.

The BBWAA HOF voters are an example of the most entitled, sanctimonious subset of people in the country. Especially those that keep their votes private (only two non-Maddux voters made their ballots public, Gurnick and Crass, who submitted a blank vote to make sure nobody got a unanimous selection).

So I know very little about baseball's structure as a sport, but isn't that a lot of people with HOF ballot votes? If you're going to have that many, why wouldn't you just open it up to the public?

He said, in a country with the Electoral College...

SpecialKO said:

So I know very little about baseball's structure as a sport, but isn't that a lot of people with HOF ballot votes? If you're going to have that many, why wouldn't you just open it up to the public?

He said, in a country with the Electoral College...

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Yes, many people have lifetime HOF votes and haven't covered baseball in any capacity for 20+ years. If you wrote about baseball for 10 years as a member of the BBWAA, you get a lifetime vote. If you blogged about baseball for 10 years, you get nothing.

As for why not open it to the public, that goes back to the sanctimonious entitlement.

Piotyr said:

Yes, many people have lifetime HOF votes and haven't covered baseball in any capacity for 20+ years.

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....well, that says it all, really.

redthirtyone said:

Meanwhile, these sanctimonious jackasses in the BBWAA still see fit to use this vote to grandstand for whatever cause they see fit. Greg Maddux, a player whom many felt could possibly become the first player ever to garner 100% of the votes, was not listed on 16 or the 571 ballots cast. One member of the BBWAA, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, cast his vote for one player - Jack Morris (who coincidentally was up for election for his 15th & final time). His reasoning? He couldn't be sure who did & didn't take PED's, so he wouldn't vote for anybody who played during that era. One problem, the back half of Jack Morris' career was played during that era. Nice try asshole.

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Not to mention the PED era is much longer. Hank Aaron hit 40 home runs at 40 while playing with someone who took steroids...

I think bonds, mcgwire, sosa, clemens, should fuckin easily be in the hall. they would be HOF without steroids imho


as a transplant Astros fan, MAN FUCK biggio should get in, and Bagwell as well.

That guy who decided "I don't know who's juiced & who's not, so everybody's juiced" & that other guy who decided "No way anybody's ever getting 100% on my watch"... they both vote for Biggio & he's in.

Assholes. The whole lot of 'em.

redthirtyone said:

That guy who decided "I don't know who's juiced & who's not, so everybody's juiced" & that other guy who decided "No way anybody's ever getting 100% on my watch"... they both vote for Biggio & he's in.

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I don't see how this isn't a bigger taint of a vote than what LeBatard did.

The BBWAA has gone beyond its usefulness when it comes to selecting candidates for the Hall of Fame. The problem is, the other systems for the other halls are even worse (HHOF is basically a "buddy system"; PFHOF and BBHOF are so secretive that it's like voting for a new Pope).

The people who should really be selecting candidates for the BBHOF should be a group like SABR - but not just SABR. SABR could have part of the vote, the writers part of the vote, the fans part of the vote - all of them together putting together nominations to develop a short list of candidates each year (10 to 12). After that, have a straight up yes/no vote on each candidate from a selected group from each of the three nominating electorates. Make it 33 from each group (one from each MLB team, plus three "at large" voters either internationally or from states/provinces not represented by MLB teams), so 75 "yes" votes gets a candidate in.

The 33 fans could come from a group that applies for the right to be the "selectors" by paying to take the MLB version of an SAT exam. (Yes, this is something Bill James proposed back in his book about the Hall of Fame, and I'd love to see it.) The vote could be rotated between any 33 persons scoring a certain percentage over a period of 10 years. Only rule is, after you've cast 10 ballots, you're done as a voter. And if you're already a member of SABR, you can't vote under their rules for being a selector.

With the internet and everything, it could be done pretty quick. And people would actually have a voice in saying who goes in and who stays out, instead of just relying on a bunch of writers who are holding grudges or don't take their voting seriously. If someone really thinks that Roger Clemens or Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds should be in the Hall, then put your money where your mouth is and vote.

It'd make for a more exciting and more interesting off-season, that's for sure.