Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Take on the Hall of Fame

With the first time in recent memory, the baseball writers kept
everybody out of the Hall of Fame although there were obviously many
players who's numbers would have made them obvious locks but with all
the PED whispers none did

I have an issue with putting guys on a ballot and then have writers
make moral decisions especially when they played in an era when
steroid use was rampant and basically accepted by the entire
establishment. If you don't want them in then keep them off the
ballot a la Pete Rose but if they are there they should be voted on
for their playing career.

But my issue today is something a bit different than the guys who have
been kept out because of suspicions but more the fringe guys. The
MLB HOF requires you to have 5% of the votes to stay on the ballot and
can stay on for ten years but that number is way too low. If you
get 10-15% of the votes you are not now and never should be a Hall of
Famer. To me you are either a Hall of Famer or not and I never
understood the concept of keeping these guys on for a decade to see if
they can slip through. All the guys who get in on their ninth or
tenth year are by definition such borderline cases the decision should
be obvious.
To me if you don't make it on the second ballot then you are off for
good. Maybe give you one reprieve ten years later but that's it

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