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Baseball Hall of Fame fallout
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Congratulations to Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice—two very deserving inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here are a few more random thoughts on the HOF in general.
Baseball media members make me want to vomit
When it comes to the HOF vote, baseball media can come across as a truly narcissistic and ignorant bunch. How else can one explain the logic of the 28 voters who did not vote for Henderson. What Henderson accomplishment didn’t impress them? Was it the record 1406 stolen bases? Was it the record 2295 runs scored? The .401 career on-base percentage in the lead-off spot? The most lead-off homers in history? The 10 all-star appearances? The 1990 AL MVP, along with five additional top-10 finishes? The 2190 career walks?
No, the problem for this brain-damaged lot is that Henderson doesn’t meet their precious criteria for first-ballot hall of famer. This mythical standard suggests that no one outside of Babe Ruth and the top-10 players of all time should get voted in their first time on the ballot, which is complete nonsense. There is no such language in the rules for BHOF voting. The writers make up their own rules and standards to show the great unwashed (us) how erudite and progressive they are. The aforementioned 28 writers need to grow up—or resign in disgrace.
The NFL does it better
The manner in which the NFL runs its league is light years ahead of MLB, so it should come as no surprise that its HOF selection process is also better. A 44-member panel is comprised of one media representative from each team’s city (two from New York), one rep from the Pro Football Writers of America, and 11 at-large voters. The HOF board meets annually at the Super Bowl to elect new members.
The advantage of this system is that a smaller group of voices can gather in one setting to debate the merits of potential HOF’ers. A writer can make a presentation for a player who might otherwise go unnoticed. This was the case years ago when Chicago Tribune writer Don Pierson convinced his peers of the value of Bears defensive lineman Dan Hampton. One of his main selling points was the dramatic drop in winning percentage for the great Bears teams of the ‘80s when Hampton was injured. The members looked beyond the stats and were eventually swayed to Pierson’s well-researched argument, and Hampton, a classic old-school warrior, was rightly enshrined.
I believe there are newspapers that even allow their janitors to fill out a HOF ballot. Streamline the process, people. Less is more.
The forgotten man
In my humble opinion, Alan Trammell is the most deserving player leftover from this year’s ballot. Compare his stats to two of his 1980's peers, Cal Ripken Jr. and Ozzie Smith, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Trammell’s defense was also above average.
Pete Rose
Don’t even get me started on this tired topic. He knew the rules; he should suffer consequences for the rest of his natural life.
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