2013 MLB Hall of Fame Screechfest

I doubt a new system could be worse, really.

 

The bolded portion is why Outofplace would take away the BBWAA's vote. I doubt it would sway the Hall of Fame to do so.

Voters punish first-timers less than they used to. In fact, I doubt many younger voters do so at all any more.

I see no reason to take the vote away from the BBWAA. None. If no one gets in this year, so be it. It's that kind of year. It happens. Who cares?

 

The main argument against the BBWAA vote is one of simple justice. Who died and made us God? Why do I have a vote when Tony Gwynn doesn't? The idea that the BBWAA is some sort of neutral arbiter has been pretty much destroyed by many of the comments made by voters prior to this election. Too many are people who think baseball DID make them God.

 

Like what?

 

Not having anyone get inducted is bad for baseball and bad for the Hall of Fame. If nobody is deserving, then fine, but I think the popular perception is that people are going out of their way not to vote for people who legitimately have a shot at getting in, and there is also the belief that a bulk of the writers have gotten together to agree not to vote certain people in.

That's their right, and I certainly don't have a problem with people making people who are widely believed to have cheated wait for induction or not be inducted, but the smarter way to handle things would have been to put Biggio and Raines and someone else deserving in and then deal with the steroid people later... The way they're going about things is drawing quite a bit of attention to themselves. Maybe that was the point, maybe it wasn't.

It doesn't particularly bother me, but it is going to piss off a lot of people and possibly lead to a different way of voting. They're not going to let this happen again anytime soon. Maddux and Glavine could save the day next year because they're both going to go in on the first ballot.

 

But it's not like Biggio and Raines are Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. They are borderline candidates, the type that traditionally take a while to get in.

Pulling their vote seems like a complete overreaction. If Biggio and Raines got 65 percent in a year in which one or two guys got in, no one would bat an eye.

To me, the bigger crime would be voting guys in just to spare us the horror of an inductee-free year. No inductees this year seems to, arguably, increase the credibility of the process, not diminish it.

 

Agreed, but it's not like those are the only two HOF worthy people on the ballot. They may be the most worthy of the people who are widely believed not to have used PEDs, but they were hinting at it on ESPN this morning that if no one gets in, expect the process to change...

Maybe it's just a threat. Who knows?

 

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Was just about to post that.

 

Actually, no. All of what I posted is why I would consider taking the vote away from the BBWAA. The part about using votes to punish players is just part of it.

This should be difficult, but simple. Vote for the guys who you think belong in the Hall of Fame. Do not vote for those you think do not belong. If I actually believed the voters were doing that, I wouldn't have nearly as much of an issue with what they are doing.

 

What makes you think they aren't doing that? What else would they be doing?

 

Everything I listed.