Maddux, Glavine, Thomas elected to Baseball Hall of Fame; Biggio just misses

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Yes, it is. It may not be strong evidence, in your opinion. But it's evidence.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Maybe the real question is, should we really even care about the Hall of Fame any more? Has it outlived its usefulness?

There was a time when such an honorarium was required as a means of keeping the history of the game alive and known to subsequent generations. I doubt that's much of an issue now. Combine that with the fact that no one can make heads or tails of this ridiculousness, and I'm starting to wonder if this is all much ado about nothing. This HOF thing colors every single discussion about a huge contingent of players when it would be nice to discuss it all without having to reach a binary conclusion, i.e. "in" or "out."

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Agreed on that.
It is a troll operation, by this point.
Who cares who belongs or who doesn't.
This isn't even about baseball anymore, or the meaning of greatness.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

You're reading more into what I wrote. We don't know everybody who used. We know Piazza, we know Bonds, we know Clemens, we know Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, Pettitte, A-Rod, Manny, Ortiz, Giambi.... I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few...

Bagwell is the one we don't know. Most think he did, but nobody knows for sure. The others, we know... Pearlman is hardly the only writer Piazza told that he used.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Why does that get crossed out?

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Kind of a silly discussion point because it's not going anywhere, and as long as people do care that won't change.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Should we care? I don't know... But we do... I remember going to a baseball card show when I was 6 or so and Willie Mays was signing, I think he had just been inducted and he signed everything Willie Mays HOF and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Commenting in general, it sounds like the best idea is to require every voter make his or her ballot public and be prepared to defend their choices. This at least allows the general public to hold voters accountable.

On one point regarding Raines: I can understand somebody who voted for Raines last year, but not this year, doing so because he made their top 10 last year, but he got bumped out because Maddux, Glavine and Thomas were new to the ballot, went into the top 10 this year, so the voter had to bump Raines (and two others) out because that trio was more deserving.

But the biggest problem we have, in general, is that it's almost impossible to figure out voters' reasoning from year to year. They may be in the minority, but it makes you wonder if they deserve to vote if they can't stay consistent with their logic.

And while I understand the reasoning for removing the limit on how many players can get your vote, that then suddenly opens the door for voters who become sympathetic to the borderline guys like Jack Morris (IMO, he's borderline, I'm not changing my mind on that) or the votes that keep getting tossed out for "hometown heroes" even though they may be nowhere near worthy of HOF consideration.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

For the record, Shaunghessy did not vote for all 10 players this year. He simply doesn't care enough to remember who he voted for last year and why. It's inexcusable.

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

And the dream of Maddux being unanimous ends, courtesy of Ken Gurnick, who becomes the first out of 155 ballots to vote for Maddux -- or ANYONE EXCEPT FOR MORRIS.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/how-mlbcom-writers-voted-in-hall-of-fame-balloting?ymd=20140106&content_id=66341930&vkey=news_mlb

"Morris has flaws -- a 3.90 ERA, for example. But he gets my vote for more than a decade of ace performance that included three 20-win seasons, Cy Young Award votes in seven seasons and Most Valuable Player Award votes in five. As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them."

 

Re: 2014 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Thirty-six-year-old contemporary of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire goes from 18 losses and a 4.51 ERA one year to 39 wins and a World Series MVP over his next two seasons.