A small group of these writers call themselves "The Gatekeepers" and have been voting unfairly and/or based on rumors. The Gatekeepers refuse to vote for ANYONE who played during the "steroid era" because their belief is that everyone is tainted. Anyone from your large power hitters (i.e. Mark McGwire) to the speedy infielders (i.e. Craig Biggio), to even the average shaped pitchers (i.e. Greg Maddux). Whatever happened to innocent 'til proven guilty?
One writer, Dan Le Batard, sold his vote (for money for charity) to the website Deadspin.com and became the only writer to actually be stripped of his vote for abuse of his vote. I agree he should have been stripped, but the irony is that Deadspin let their readers vote their top ten picks for the Hall and the readers actually came up with a good vote (Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, Piazza, Biggio, Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Edgar Martinez, Bagwell). Another writer allowed to keep his vote though, voted for players such as Jacque Jones, JT Snow, and Kenny Rogers over Biggio and Thomas. If you can't take your vote seriously, you should lose it. The BBWAA is a lifetime membership and some of the voters no longer cover sports and writer admittedly said he doesn't even watch baseball anymore. These writers should lose their votes too.
People without votes include Bill James (MLB's official historian), many of the journalist for MLB.com and the MLB Channel, and even people who have seen more baseball than ninety-nine percent of writers such as Vin Scully. The group of people voting for the Hall of Fame should be re-examined. Several current writers have submitted no votes for the past three years. You should be stripped of your vote. There is no excuse not to be able to find one vote in years that had so many deserving players.
In this year's ballot, there were arguably fifteen players or so that have Hall Of Fame credentials. Each writer is unfortunately restricted to ten votes, but a large number of players should end up going. Only three were selected (Maddux, Glavine, Thomas). It was nice to see a pitcher with a rookie season after 1970, finally make it. It's not as if there were no deserving pitchers in that group. Jack Morris, the winningest pitcher of the '80's fits in that deserving group, but only three players total was embarrassing.
First off, some players should be considered a no brainer when it comes to the Hall of Fame and with no valid argument against voting the player (i.e. Babe Ruth) and therefore should receive one hundred percent of a vote, which has never happened in history. Greg Maddux should have been one of these players, but a handful of voters actually made a case against him.
What is strange is some of these writers acknowledged that they WILL vote for players such as Manny Ramirez when he becomes eligible. Ramirez tested positive twice after the new rules of suspension came out (i.e. 50/100/150/life). Why would he be okay in their eyes, but not someone like Fred McGriff, who never tested positive, never was accused, and never even changed body shape all that much while he played. Some writers will cite that he didn't hit the benchmark numbers of five hundred homers or three thousand hits. McGriff hit four hundred ninety-three home runs and was a league leader in homeruns during the strike shortened season on 1994. In one hundred thirteen games he had thirty-four homeruns and could have easily hit seven more.
Rafael Palmeiro fell off the ballot this year with less than five percent of the vote and is the first player with over three thousand hits and/or five hundred homeruns to fall of the Hall of Fame ballot. In his case, I believe a case can be made for him not to make because he DID test positive for steroids, but other power hitters such as Jeff Bagwell, Fred McGriff, and even speedsters like Tim Raines never did. The same writers will hold Mark McGwire accountable for doing "Andro" when he played with the Cardinals, but in the late '90's, the medical community classified "Andro" as a supplement and not a steroid, nor was it even banned by Major League Baseball at the time. What he was doing was completely within the rules of baseball during that time period.
Craig Biggio comes up as a player that was gypped out of the honor this year. He was two votes short, the closest any player has come, without being voted in. He is one of the top ten second baseman of all time, amassing over three thousand hits, four gold gloves, five silver sluggers, and holds the record for being beaned the most in the modern day era. He is the only player in MLB history that has over three thousand hits, six hundred doubles, four hundred stolen bases, and two hundred stolen bases. He fell nine homeruns short of being only the second player in history to amass three thousand hits, three hundred homers, and three hundred stolen bases (Willie Mays being the only one). He played three positions to benefit his team, starting off his career as a all-star catcher, switching over to second base to become a gold glover, and moving to centerfield to benefit his team. He is undoubtedly a Hall Of Famer and it is said he will make it next year. The problem lies that for those who vote for him next year, they essentially only have nine votes for Hall of Fame instead of ten because of the travesty of not voting him in this season.
With only three players going this year, the already crowded vote gets even more crowded next year when players such as John Smoltz, Gary Sheffield, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martinez become eligible. With the already crowded ballot, there's a good chance that several players might fall under the five percent minimum to stay on the ballot the next season, that are better players than ones currently in the Hall.
The biggest snubs are Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, neither of which have ever tested positive for steroids. One writer said he would never vote for Bonds because "he is a mean person". This may be true, but former players such as Ty Cobb made it and he was a known racist and even possibly killed a man and he made it. Clemens even tested for international competition and passed when he drug tested for the Olympics. Clemens only negative was that he tested in front of Congress that he never cheated on his wife, a question that had nothing to do with drugs, and he was found later of lying about that. The only thing Barry was ever proven to lie about was paying the correct amount of taxes. Neither should be a reason to keep the all time home run leader and possibly the best pitcher of the last fifty years out of the Hall.
Other players such as Tim Raines (a poor man's Rickey Henderson), Mike Piazza (horrible defense, but best hitting catcher), Mike Mussina (arguably better than Glavine), Jeff Bagwell (best first basemen of the '90's), Sammy Sosa (only proved to have had a corked bat in his final season), and Jack Morris were also gypped from becoming fellow Hall members. Good arguments could also have been made for Edgar Martinez (no defense), Lee Smith (retired as the all time saves leader), Curt Schilling (lack of consistency), Jeff Kent (lack of defense), Alan Trammell (in the shadow of Cal, Ozzie, and Larkin) and Larry Walker (lack of health).
The BBWAA needs to get their act together. With the way the group of writers has acted as a whole, if they continue to vote the way they have for the past few seasons, it will tarnish the validity of the Hall of Fame and players that are well deserving, will never make it. Embarrassing.
