hall of fame, next vote...

don't see why he shouldn't have a ballot tbh. his ballot sucks, but it seems like he's earned one

*slaps ballot out of juan vene's gnarled hands and stomps on it* go to hell you old shitty bitch!!!!

It's a tough call...and I've always fought against the idea (mostly out of self-interest) that older pop-music writers become irrelevant. It's just that that ballot shows such a level of disengagement. I guess it should be interpreted as a blanket refusal to vote for any hitters from that era. Which doesn't explain not voting for Raines, Trammell, Mattingly, or even McGriff, or why pitchers would get a pass.

Anyway, I think the best thing about this vote (based on the almost 25% that's in) is that the very worst thing that could have happened is not going to happen--that only Maddux would go in, and that the logjam had created a new onworkable bar of ridiculously over-qualified plus completely PED-untainted. Glavine's going in (put aside Mussina/Schilling comparisons for a moment), Thomas too. Piazza's going in this year or next, even with a couple of sure-things coming on. Bagwell's going in soon after. Mussina and Schilling are off to a good start.

"unworkable"

I'm not sure about your timeline considering that the ballot is going to get more and more stacked. Plenty of overqualified guys could be lingering on the ballot for 10-15 years if there isn't a voting rule change.

I think it'll go like this:

This year: Maddux, Glavine, Thomas
2015: Johnson, Pedro, Biggio or Piazza (not both--the other carries over another year)
2016: Griffey, Biggio or Piazza, Bagwell
2017: anyone above who hasn't yet made it, plus...the logjam is back: I-Rod, Vlad, Smoltz, Mussina, Schilling--one or two of them

btw i agree on wagner, morbs, but i guess the argument could be made for him.

arguably qualified players who will be on the ballot for the 2015-17 elections (minus players who will likely fall off or be elected this year; assuming maddux, glavine, and thomas go and biggo and piazza don't, and assuming palmeiro ekes out a stay of execution this year):

Jorge Posada
Vladimir Guerrero
Manny Ramirez
Ivan Rodriguez
Trevor Hoffman
Billy Wagner
Jim Edmonds
Ken Griffey
Carlos Delgado
Gary Sheffield
John Smoltz
Pedro Martinez
Randy Johnson
Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Jeff Kent
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Mike Mussina
Rafael Palmeiro
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines
Curt Schilling
Lee Smith
Sammy Sosa
Alan Trammell
Larry Walker

the only ones i see going in for sure in those years are johnson, griffey, pedro, smoltz, biggio, bagwell, piazza.

Tigers' Lou Whitaker: Jack Morris 'was no better' than myself, Alan Trammell

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140105/SPORTS0104/301050031#ixzz2pZc532iG

“I don’t know what to say about Jack,” Whitaker said during the MLB Network Radio interview. “Jack was good, Jack was a stud in his own way. Jack Morris probably deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”

But before Trammell?

That question drew a laugh from Whitaker, whose interview lasted only a little more than three minutes as hosts Bowden and Jeff Joyce rushed the uncomfortable segment to the finish line.

So Maddux might become the first player ever to get 100% vote? Surprises me that I didn't happen yet to the likes of Mays or Ruth.

i wouldn't be surprised if some asshole ended up submitting a blank ballot.

glavine and thomas are well above 90% right now which is pretty surprising. biggio looks close. palmeiro looks like toast. kent's showing is really poor.

I'd bet against that. I was thinking the same initially--147 out of 147 so far--but realized that the handful of people who don't vote for him would never make their ballot public. He may break the pct. record, though--Ryan or Seaver, I think.

Here's something I mentioned last year: Graham Womack's online poll for the 50 greatest players not in the Hall.

http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2014/01/06/50-baseball-players-hall-fame-version-4-0/

(Bet against unanimity, I meant.)

yeah there is just no way he gets on everyone's ballot

What's surprising me far more is Glavine running around 97%. I've got to believe that's powered to a degree by Maddux/Glavine sentiment; he's a deserving HOF'er, but he seems much more like an 85-90% guy to me (which may in fact be where he ends up).

David Schoenfield makes the case for J.T. Snow:

"Won six Gold Gloves, twice knocked in 100 runs and once saved Dusty Baker's kid from possible death in a World Series game."

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/11/14/55/2411337/11/628x471.jpg

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/43325/the-big-huge-hall-of-fame-post-part-1

The average career WAR for those 14 is 70.2; the mean is at 68

and once saved Dusty Baker's kid from possible death in a World Series game.

This alone > Jack Morris' various accomplishments

Jack only saved people who were clinically dead--he rescued to the score.

This is really a remarkable stat:

28. Richie Sexson (17.9 WAR) -- One of 30 players to have at least three seasons with at least 39 home runs and 120 RBIs. Twelve are in the Hall of Fame. All the others played in the 1990s or 2000s.

‏@ajcbraves
Chipper Jones on ex-#Brave Maddux: “Some dumb (bleep) will probably leave him off the ballot because no one else has been a unanimous pick."

ha!

So Maddux might become the first player ever to get 100% vote?

nope

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/07/ken-gurnicks-hall-of-fame-ballot-is-perhaps-the-laziest-and-most-willfully-ignorant-ever

chipper otm anyway

gurnick's not a bad beat writer but I feel like he deserves all the shit flung his way on the internet today

he also claimed he wont vote for anyone going forward, period.

JIM BOWDEN @JimBowdenESPNxm
Follow
Ken Gurnick just told us that he’ll abstain from Hall of Fame voting going forward. He will not vote again. Sirius 209 XM 89

Hope that guy burns in hell for his quirky hall of fame opinion

let's face it though, jack morris was a really good pitcher. like jamie moyer good.

when are the results announced? so I can read slightly less about this until the induction?

after the results are out, it will take approx .000005 of a second before the first article about the the 2015 ballot hits and we can all argue and lose our shit about that for a year. it is a never ending cycle baseball crankery.

Tomorrow is going to be an all-time great day for crankery with HOF and Pazz and Jop results announced within hours of each other.

oh holy shit - it's tomorrow?!

al leong, are you Larry?

you people are almost as bad as Oscar bloggers.

Lol

:)

you people are almost as bad as Oscar bloggers Pazz & Jop voters.

2pm eastern tomorrow

can anyone explain the process by which rob neyer and jim callis are not baseball writers with a vote? it can't still be the web thing -- all these mlb.com beat writers are only online

it's something like you have to be a BBWAA member for 10 years.

In order to be eligible for a Hall of Fame vote, a writer must be an active member of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years. Once a writer receives a Hall of Fame vote, he is eligible to continue voting even when he is no longer an active member of the BBWAA, provided he becomes a lifetime honorary member.

Does that mean some Hall of Fame voters don't even cover baseball any more?

Yes. The BBWAA trusts that its voters take their responsibility seriously, and even those honorary members who are no longer covering baseball do their due diligence to produce a thoughtful ballot.

How do you become a member of the BBWAA?

The full membership requirements are in the BBWAA constitution. Essentially, you must be a beat writer, backup writer, columnist or sports editor from a newspaper or wire service that covers Major League Baseball on a regular basis. Membership has been expanded to include web sites on a case-by-case basis.

so have u guys followed the "known ballots"?

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/the_2013_hof_ballot_collecting_gizmo/

so that's just over 1/3 of HOF ballots.

I'm surprised that Glavine is getting so much support. It's gotta be because people want to see him go in with Maddux. Sutton, Niekro and Perry all won 300 games and none of them were elected in their first year and they didn't get anything close to 90 percent support when they were elected.

i'm still iffy on Glavine belonging in the hall to begin with. i'd put Schilling in and possibly Moose ahead of him for sure either way.

glavine deserves it for sure, once he's considered in the context of his era. he was as good as he was in a pretty potent offensive era. he was admittedly not on the same tier as maddux, pedro, johnson, schilling, or clemens though.

good luck usa

maddux, glavine, and thomas

rip jack morris

biggio had 74.8% of the vote

!

fuckin ken gurnick