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

Not exactly fair -- most people tend to fill out and develop physically at that age.

 

I've never understood how Griffey is above suspicion. How many muscle injuries did he endure? How much bigger did he get physically from 1989-2000ish? (I realize he went from teenager into his early 30s in that period, but he still doesn't, to me, pass the eyeball test). Injuries forced Griffey to miss 260 out of 486 games from 2002 through 2004. He, like Bonds, went from a 5-tool player to a home run masher. Frankly, I think their career stats would be very similar if Griffey had been as good as Bonds at staying on the field.

His name may not have shown up on any Balco/Biogenesis reports, but all that tells me is that he was smarter about it than other guys and used people who were better at keeping their mouth shut, or he had a better pseudonym. But if anyone is purposely not voting for suspected PED users, I don't know how you can vote for Griffey.

 

I seem to remember someone saying years ago that Griffey was notorious for not working out.

 

So because there is none, and has never been any, evidence that Griffey used PEDs, that is evidence that he MUST have used PEDs?
My head hurts.
Griffey tends to be above suspicion because he had a fairly normal downward arc at the end of his career. He declined as he aged, which is considered the way most careers should wind down. The 2002-2004 period you cite is after he'd been in the league for 13 years, and at an age (early 30s) and point in his career where most players start to show the first signs of aging. But maybe that was just part of the cover up, too.

 

To clarify, Biggio was 2 votes short. No rounding. Have to have 75.00000000000 or higher.

It seems at least 2 people so far said they would have voted for him if not for the 10-man limit, which I believe is now almost certain to be removed.

Here's my ballot (and I didn't vote for Biggio but not becuase of the limit or PED suspicion or any statement. Just thought he was more longevity than dominance).

Bagwell
Bonds
Clemens
Glavine
Kent
Maddux
Piazza
Raines
Schilling
Thomas

The guys I would have voted for if I had more sports were McGwire (who I had voted for but decided not to waste a vote on this time) and Mussina (who I'm glad stayed on the ballot).

 

Not a bad ballot at all. I still think Mussina had the better career (fewer highs, fewer lows) than Schilling, but I know that a- I'm in the minority; and b- there may be some Yankee fan colored thinking in that analysis. I'm surprised Kent isn't getting more consideration. He's a lot like Piazza - one of the greatest hitters ever and not much of a fielder at a defensive position. Piazza was better of course, but Kent should be good enough. You don't think Trammel is close?

 

The unknown blank ballot obviously hurt Biggio, since they could have abstained.

Jon Becker and Rob Maaddi have already said on Twitter they would have voted Biggio except for the limit.
Michael Silverman said in his column as noted above, he dropped Biggio to vote for others because of the limit.

Ron Blum voted for Biggio last year, didn't vote for him this year but only used nine spots.

I can't wait to see the ballots when they get posted on the BBWAA site.

Funny how nearly 40 percent of the ballots are out there but none of the 24 votes for Moises Alou, Hideo Nomo, Luis Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, J.T. Snow, Armando Benitez, Jacque Jones and Kenny Rogers have been claimed.

 

Why Trammell gets so little support and Barry Larkin skated in doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Same goes for Lou Whitaker and Ryne Sandberg.

 

Just wait for the next expansion committee. They can put in Morris, Trammell and Whitaker at the same time.

 

I didn't say MUST. I said he's just as suspicious to me as anyone, and if you're using suspicion as a reason not to vote for people, I don't see how you can vote for him. I have no idea if he used or didn't, and don't really care either way, but I can't fathom how anybody could say he's above suspicion.

 

He's above suspicion because, through all of the witch hunts (for lack of a better term) his name has never come up. It's like asking why the guy in San Quentin serving five years for tax fraud wasn't convicted for murder, since he's in the same prison as hundreds of murderers.