Hall of Fame Ballot Survey
Here’s an unofficial count of some results from journalists who posted their 2008 Hall of Fame ballots online, in newspapers, or during interviews. As I predicted, it looks like Rickey Henderson will be elected, and Jim Rice will squeak in on his last chance on the ballot. (The Veterans Committee elected Joe Gordon this year.)
95 Rickey Henderson *
77 Jim Rice
62 Andre Dawson
60 Bert Blyleven
46 Lee Smith
41 Jack Morris
38 Tommy John
29 Tim Raines
27 Mark McGwire
19 Alan Trammell
15 Don Mattingly
14 Dave Parker
12 Mark Grace *
11 Dale Murphy
9 David Cone *
7 Harold Baines
5 Mo Vaughn *
4 Matt Williams *
3 Jesse Orosco *
3 Greg Vaughn *
2 Ron Gant *
2 Jay Bell *
1 Dan Plesac *
*incomplete ballot revealed
And here are thoughts from Tony Vahl:
How is Matt Williams behind Mo Vaughn and Harold Baines?How did Jay Bell get a vote?
I think the fact that Jim Rice and Dawson are ahead of Bert Blyleven, along with other inequities (like Lee Smith, Jack Morris, and Tim Raines) prove that something needs to be done about the HoF voting system.
One step in the right direction would be opening up the voting to include sports broadcasters. Talk radio guys like Francessa should have a vote.
This would punish the baseball writers by stripping away their exclusive voting rights.
I also think a statistical element should be introduced, and be included in the voting percentage (ala the BCS in college football). That would eliminate some of the human element that skews the results year after year, and give the statheads their due for their contribution to the game. I think Bill James HoF monitoring stats could be used for this purpose.
As for veterans committee (since we’re on the topic), I think fans should have a say in that voting process, along with the players. The current veterans committee is too picky — let’s see more old-timers get in before passing away due to old age.
DAMIAN SAYS:
I agree that fans need to have some sort of vote. And the problem with the New Veterans Committee is that there are too many names on it, and it’s done via mail instead of having seminars or campaigns like Ted Williams used to do with the Vets.
Another major problem with the sportswriters Hall of Fame voters occurs when they refuse to vote for someone because “he’s not a 1st ballot Hall of Famer”.
This happens with every candidate and sometimes deserving candidates have to wait a number of years before getting inducted because his name isn’t Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb. If every journalist thought like that, a deserving candidate could potentially get permanently dropped off the ballot due to stupidity.
A separate issue is the alleged steroid/HGH/PED users. Things are going to get OUT OF HAND when Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and others will be languishing on the ballot together year after year. Sportswriters need to get off their high moral horse and stop punishing select players (I think it’s pretty obvious that Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell got a Free Pass ™ from the MEDIA when it came to questioning their physiques and HRs.) In other words, if McGwire is going to be punished year after year, so should “Future Hall of Famer” Pudge Rodriquez- whom Jose Canseco had listed, who played with those crazy 1990’s Texas teams, and whose physique and stats changed since testing was performed.
On the plus side, 95% of deserving players do get in eventually, and for the first time some Internet writers have ballot rights.
Similar Posts:
- 2009 Hall of Fame Election: Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice
- 2009 Hall of Fame Ballot Candidates
- 2010 Hall of Fame Ballot Picks
- Damian’s 2007 Daily Skew Hall of Fame Ballot
- Andre Dawson Hall of Fame: My 2010 HOF Picks Opinion
- Barry Bonds’ Hall of Fame Induction Speech TRANSCRIPT
- 2010 Hall of Fame Non-Player Candidates
- Curt Schilling: Hall of Fame?
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If 33% of the vote was statistical in nature, certain guys, like Albert Belle, would always be on the ballot … even if the writers chose to ignore them.
The 33% could be composed of those Hall of Fame monitor stats that baseball-reference.com uses on their site for each player.
Say a player only had one of those Hall of Fame tests – that would give him 11%. If another player, say Mark McGuire, had all three tests, he would get the full 33%. The writers could then battle over the remaining 67%.
So, a player with high Hall of Fame tests would need fewer votes to get in … Whereas someone who had only one test passed would need almost all of the 67% of the writer’s vote to get in.
Just a preliminary thought. Bud Selig borrowed my WS homefield advantage decided at the All-Star game idea a few years back, so we’ll see if Cooperstown is reading the ‘Skew!
got juice?
I agree with Vahl and with Damian.
My own thoughts are that ball players like Jim Rice and Albert
Hall don’t get elected to the hall of fame because they had not given
reporters a Derek Jeter interview.
I (for my own record) are in love with Derek on and off the field) but that is for another skew,then
i would bet my last dollar these
fore mentioned guys would be in the
hall of fame.
Got juice? no it’s not about that, the jose canseco’s were juiced!
There is no question about it..
Look at the “got milk” poster of
“mark”, and look at him now, if you
can find him..
Time to ‘fess up.
Who did I vote for on my 2008 Hall of Fame ballot? As a voter, I am NOT required to divulge for whom I did or didn’t vote.
But I respect the fans and my readers and, in fact, next year I may write a blog before I vote and list the candidates and ask you to help me make my vote.
First of all, I’ll tell you for whom I did NOT vote — Mark McGwire. Not now, not ever. As many of you know, my position is that when he sat in front of the congressional hearing on steroids and said, “I’m not here to talk about the past,” I immediately decided, “Well, Mark, if you won’t talk about the past, I won’t consider your past accomplishments.”
One of my esteemed colleagues at the Dayton Daily News, Sean McClelland, recently wrote that he voted for McGwire and said, “How can you not vote for a guy who hit 583 career home runs?”
Well, steroids and HGH notwithstanding, take a look at McGwire’s career statistics. I might not have voted for him even without the needle controversy. Yes, he hit 583 home runs. What else did he do? Not much. His career batting average was .262. When he hit 70 home runs, he had 61 singles. And he wore a glove at first base for decorative purposes only.
So, I assume Hal votes for hitters with the most singles? Singles, in his book, are more important than home runs?
News flash: you are GUARANTEED to score at least one run with a homer.
***
Is Hal a Doctor? Can he look at a body and know the guy is on HGH? Does the fact that guys like McGuire worked out everyday in the gym get discounted if they did use “PEDs?”
Does anyone truly KNOW if PEDs really work? Maybe it was all the exercise with advanced gym equipment. The old-time ballplayers didn’t have the equipment they do today.
I’m sooooo done with this HGH argument that blacklists legit HoFers like McGuire. It’s just an outlet for obese reporters to vent their jealousy.
Now that’s certainly a first- I’ve never been called obese before.
Maybe you don’t know this, but I’m IN the Hall of Fame. I also can’t see from my right eye.
So you should be more respectful to your elders.
Hal, you need your vote taken away…yeah, you do, buddy, I’m sorry. Just give it to Bill James, and walk away nice and slow.
if the voters eventually decide the Ortiz is greater or even on par with Frank Thomas, the entire hall of fame should be dismantled. it would be absudity beyond any comprehension.