1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Le Batard, Deadspin, the HOF vote

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by H.L. Mencken, Jan 8, 2014.

  1. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    Actually there is a screening committee that subjectively puts players on the ballot. There are guys who play 10 years and do not make it.
     
  2. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Correct. About two dozen 10-year players who retired in 2008 did NOT appear on this year's ballot. That includes:

    Joe Borowski
    Jose Cruz Jr.
    Damion Easley
    Shawn Estes
    Chris Gomez
    Scott Hatteberg
    Jon Lieber
    Esteban Loaiza
    Kent Mercker
    Trot Nixon
    Rudy Seanez
    Shannon Stewart
    Tanyon Sturtze
    Mark Sweeney
    Steve Trachsel
    Dmitri Young

    et al.
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    That's the first time I've ever been wrong. Damn. It was bound to happen at some point.
     
  4. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    They also need to make the votes public. I find it odd that a profession that expects the people they cover to be open and answer questions doesn't believe they should be held to the same standard.
     
  5. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Scott Hatteberg should have made the Hall. A revolutionary.
     
  6. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Easley and Gomez both went to Lakewood High.
     
  7. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    Who won the pool?
     
  8. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Ah, I see. You have no point.

    WTF? People sweat out elections whether they're running for Homecoming King, Dog Catcher or the Hall of Fame. These guys spend their lives performing in front of 40,000 people and TV cameras. They can handle the "torture" of an election. Would it have been better if Santo had been eligible once, then eliminated from consideration when he didn't make the cut?
     
  9. SnarkShark

    SnarkShark Well-Known Member

    Considering he was never voted in by the writers, yes, I think it would have been better if they had one vote on him instead of stringing him along. Here is a quote from an SI piece in 2012 (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/cliff_corcoran/07/20/ron-santo-hall-of-fame/).

    It would take a simple change in philosophy.

    Is a player a Hall of Famer? Yes or no. Not "Is he a first-ballot HOFer?", "Is he a tenth-ballot HOFer?"

    Is he a goddamn Hall of Famer!?

    If he's is, stop diddling and vote him in. Same goes for the veteran's committee, which had opportunities to vote Santo in prior to his death, but didn't.
     
  10. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    I really really truly honestly believe that there is a very small percentage of people who intentionally withhold votes from people they think are HOFers (unless they run out of spots, but that's another story).

    When guys have low totals and move up, it's because the voting pool changes and people change their minds. There's a lot of new information out there and people are supposed to be open minded to it, right?

    I think you want to encourage people to continue to study and deliberate about every player as long as he is on the ballot.
     
  11. Knighthawk

    Knighthawk Member

    Chris Gomez not making the ballot is a travesty. He's the only player to win the Tigers rookie of the year award twice.
     
  12. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Went to Cooperstown in 2012. My dad is in his 60s and saw Santo in his prime and he really liked the late 60s Cubs, which were a sort of temporary replacement for him when the Braves left Milwaukee.

    But when he saw that Santo was one of the inductees he had a two-sentence response.

    "Christ. What bullshit."

    Santo was by no means some sort of lead-pipe cinch that got fucked.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page