Ripken and Gwynn only Hall of Famers this year

The Hall of Fame should mean something. Bad baseball players shouldn't even get the "beer buddy" vote. And if that makes me a "fuckwad," then so be it. But, to me, anyone that can justify, in any way, a vote for Jay Buhner or Tony Fernandez or Paul O'Neill for the Hall of Fuckin' Fame is the real fuckwad. Being given the privilege to vote for the Hall is indeed that, a privilege. It's not a right. If you repeatedly abuse it with juvenile shit like this, it should be taken away.

 

Didn't you hear, MC? We had to play the game to say that.

 

I'm voting for GooseGossageJimRiceDaleMurphyAndreDawsonSteveGarveyOrelHershiserLeeSmithAlanTrammellHaroldBainesand........................DaveConcepcion.

 

Other than Carter (who I don't believe should be in the Hall), the other were veterans' selections.

And many of those picks were crony selections. When Frankie Frisch and Bill Terry had influence on the committee in the early '70s - surprise! - their former teammates Travis Jackson, Freddie Lindstrom and George Kelly (I might have missed one or two others) made it into the Hall!

Plus, I don't think you should compare these mistakes with "legitimate" Hall of Famers (or figuring out who is "legitimate.")

And to spirited - yes, I have covered baseball games before; yes, I have written a baseball book; yes, when you say to take away someone's vote it is half in jest - after all, can someone really say Tony Fernandez belongs in the Hall with a straight face? What if 500 voters all had the hilarious idea of putting Jay Buhner on their ballot ... now go take some ritalin or something.

 

You suck, spnited. You suck.

But not as much as the fucktards who left Ripken and Gwynn off for moronic reasons.

 

Who are those that voted for Ripken and not Gwynn? That makes no sense to me.

 

Off topic, but I'd like to point out to Birthday Shottie that the kitties have a better throwing motion than Troy Smith does.
Thank you.

 

Shannon can spin it like Tony Snow or Bill O'Reilly. But he was given a ballot and a list of players and told to select the ten(at most) that deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. He chose not to vote for Ripken and Gwynn. He can sya what he likes, but his ballot, the only thing that is counted (literally) says he didn't beleive that Ripken and Gwynn were deserving of the Hall of Fame, and for that he is a dumbass fuckwad.
How many fucking games do you need tosee of Ripken and Gwynn to understand that they should be in the Hall of Fame. Just because baseb Ruth, Wlater Johnson, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron weren't unanimous doesn't mean shit in the current voting. Those that think it's imprtant are fucktards in the 1st degree.

 

Then maybe no one should even care about the Hall of Fame. If there won't be repercussions for those that abuse the process, then the hell with it, right? Thing is, I want to care about the Hall of Fame. I want to see it be a place for players that deserve it. Maybe I'm making too much of it, but as a fan of the game, I hate to see the process bastardized like this.

 

I don't believe in taking away people's Hall of Fame ballots. In the first place, there's no way you can write a rule for that and in the second place, where would it stop if that ever got started. I do think all ballots should be made public and people should be accountable for their actions.

That said, here is what I would say to Bill Shannon. If you say Ripken and Gwynn are Hall of Famers and you didn't vote for them, you are being dishonest. There are many people who follow baseball and take it seriously, and they deserve to vote for the Hall of Fame more than you do.

I think Gary Carter does belong in the Hall of Fame, and that is the perfect example of a candidate meriting induction on a later ballot. Carter played in the same era where Johnny Bench played, but he was outstanding offensively and defensively. You have to compare his offensive stats to other catchers in the era. Name cathers in the 90s who compiled as good a record, were as good defensively, and were as important to their teams as Gary Carter. Who comes to your mind right away? The list isn't long.

 

You have to make a distinction between players who were voted in by the writers and players who were selected by the Veterans' Committee.

 

Interestingly, this guy replacing Cowherd today on ESPN Radio, John whatizname from Atlanta, suggests that the Hall of Fame voters should be done by former players, former baseball officials, etc., rather than media.

He said, why should we let baseball writers and broadcasters be the arbiters on who's morally deserving of the honor? What really gives them that kind of moral superiority?

This is a valid question, of course, only if the voters get away from what's between the white lines with their vote. But, as we have seen, there are many who do.