Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Bingo.

 

Thanks for the link, Hank! Pretty interesting, although I imagine Blyleven's total might be a bit inflated. Disappointing to see Raines still so low; it'll probably take him a dozen years to get in, similar to Blyleven.

 

That's a small sample out of probably 500 or so ballots.
I'd also like to know where the info came from.

 

BERT! BERT! BERT!

 

Like I said, the info may be very suspect and a small sample.

Suppposedly, it's someone who has put the votes together from those writers that made their votes public.

Someone posted the link on the Baseball Hall of Fame's page on facebook. The HOF has been doing writeups on each candidate and posting the links on facebook (along with its web site).

 

I am sort of mystified and the lack of love Raines appears to be getting.

Career .295 hitter, .385 OBP, who AVERAGED 52 steals a year? 2600 hits to go along with 1330 walks and 800 steals? Seven or eight DOMINANT years from 1981-88, followed by another seven or eight very productive years, followed by a handful of years as a valuable bench player?

Hall of Famer, to me.

 

There were 575 ballots mailed. A few won't be returned.

I think one of the interesting developments this year is that McGwire seems to be gaining support. I wonder if people are coming to the realization that it's not goign to be possible to keep out all the juicers, so it's easier to let them all in.

 

It's going to be interesting, isn't it?

At some point, I guess you have to let the production speak for itself. I'm not crazy about those guys getting in, but I can see the flip side argument, that baseball has always had a seedy underbelly in which guys strive to get an edge, ethical or not. I'm a bit of a baseball anti-romantic, and that rogue's gallery is certainly representative of a chapter in the game's history, for better or for worse.

I think Raines should be in. I think that playing his best years with two of baseball's most ignored franchises, one that doesn't exist any more and one that is second banana in its own town and was virtually ignored even when it broke its 88-year title drought, hurts him. That and the cocaine thing, though Molitor overcame that.

 

ESPN's HOF voters posted their ballots here...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof10/news/story?id=4795616

McGwire got 7 of 12 votes.

 

Just asking the obvious because he called it quits: Randy Johnson is an absolute first ballot lock, right?

 

Without question. Yet another player who should be unanimous, but won't because of a few dickheads.

 

I respect that Murray Chass afflicted the comfortable in his baseball writing. I'm sure the owners hated him for covering issues they would have preferred best left alone.

But in terms of the inside the diamond stuff, he is a blithering idiot.

http://www.murraychass.com/?p=1369

Lets break this down:

In 1987, the Minnesota Twins won the World Series. Bert was on the 1987 Twins. Can we agree that qualifies as a good year for a team Bert was on? At the tender age of 36, BB was the second best pitcher on the staff, behind Frank Viola, and was 15-12 with a 4.01 ERA and 196 strikeouts. He went 3-1 in the playoffs that year. He gave up three runs in six innings in his lone defeat.

At the tender age of 38, the Dutchman went 17-5 with a 2.73 ERA and a league-leading five shutouts for California, a team that went 91-71.

In 1979, the Man Who Loves To Fart went 12-5 with a 3.60 ERA for the World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. He led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts.

In 1978, Blyleven went 14-10 with a 3.03 ERA for a Pittsburgh team that finished 1.5 games behind the Phillies. He led the team in wins, ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.

The 1977 Texas Rangers won 94 games. Blyleven: 14-12, 2.72, 234 IP, 182 K. He led the league in WHIP (1.065) and was 2nd in ERA.

In 1970, a 19 year Blyleven went 10-9 with a 3.18 ERA and 135 Ks for a Minnesota Twins team that was swept by the Orioles in the playoffs.

Yes, a 37-year Blyleven was a mediocre-to-bad pitcher for a good 1988 Minnesota Twins team. So stipulated. In a 20-year career, Blyleven spent most of it toiling for mediocre Twins teams and mediocre Indians teams. But when he played for good teams, he was either their best pitcher or not far from it. If you think he is "woodwork" and never stood out in your mind enough to be a Hall of Famer, just say it. I disagree, but at least be honest. Don't cherry pick the one season in his career that the Magic Farter was a bad pitcher for a good team and hold it out as a representative sample. It is the equivalent of saying Randy Johnson shouldn't go in on the first ballot because he sucked for the 2006 Yankees. Anyone who repeats Murray Chass' inane talking point is arguing in bad faith against a Hall of Fame caliber pitcher.