Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

The way they cheated let them perform offensively in ways that modern statistical analysis values more than traditional statistical analysis.

 

And although this is going off on a tangent, increased home runs wasn't the only thing that brought about the prominence of the "take and rake" approach where strikeouts are accepted and contact minimized in exchange for power and selectivity.

You could bring back small ball if you did two things: Significantly lowered home run rates, and found some way to make defenses worse.

The improvement in defenses has really made contact hitting a tough proposition.

 

Physically and mentally, probably moreso mentally, considering that most guys now are in better physical condition than 20-plus years ago.

The Schilling-Morris is an interesting comparison. Schilling was definitely more dominant though. I knew he was more of a strikeout pitcher, but didn't realize how much more. His 162 game avg was 211 ks, Morris' 157. I think Morris was the first guy I remember people saying he pitches according to the scoreboard. that is kind of bs, because you can't let up, but i guess there is a point that maybe you aren't as fine in trying to hit the corners or go with offspeed stuff.

Morris' era was pretty much late 70s-80s. Schilling's was definitely an era of more offense, but it seems like there are more locks for the HOF in that era- Johnson, Glavine, Maddux, Clemens, Martinez, Smoltz. I'd say Schilling is after those guys, but should be in.

 

also less turf fields with shorter fences. a lot of the turf fields in the 70s were like asphalt with a thin carpet on top. if you had speed you almost had to chop and slap. i

 

Google "Jack Morris Project" and then tell me again how exactly he pitched to the scoreboard. Fact: Morris put his team BEHIND in nearly 2/3 of his 524 career starts. Bless that Tigers offense, man.

 

No fan voting. Period. People who actually know the game should be voting on who gets into the Hall of Fame.

 

Better idea: Blank ballots aren't counted as part of the total.

 

I'm pretty sure I've heard somewhere that this has been proven to be untrue.

 

That's an interesting point about improvement in defenses. It's remarkable to look back at some of the guys who were considered the best fielders of all time (like Maz) and see how many errors they made. And I understand that errors are misleading, but that's just a first-glance judgment.

 

what's untrue, that guys pitch according to the scoreboard?

 

That Morris did.

I mean, intellectually it makes sense to me that guys might let up with a big lead, just because it's human nature. Watch a basketball game some time, for example. Why should baseball be any different?

But as a way to justify Jack Morris's 3.90 ERA, as if he "pitched to the scoreboard" that much more than the average joe, I'm pretty sure it's been proven to be b.s.

 

That's horseshit. If you have a vote it should count. Voting for nobody is still a vote