HOF Voting

[cjmedina1]

Any thoughts.Mcgwire did not get in. Its going to be a long road.

[JasonM33]

So, McGwire is out but I've read a few articles that are making excuses for why they are going to vote Bonds in. This is nonsense. I'm boycotting the HOF. I won't darken the door of that place.

[JimCaravello]

Here is the official HOF Voting results..........up for debate, but Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and Raffy have no one to blame but themselves........Roger Maris still holds the single season HR record.......... I am quite pleased to see the lack of votes that McGwire received. Jim

2007 Hall of Fame Voting Total ballots cast: A record 545 (including two blanks). Necessary for election: 409 votes. Minimum votes needed to remain on the ballot: 28.
Votes Pct. Cal Ripken Jr. 537 98.5
Tony Gwynn 532 97.6
Rich Gossage 388 71.2
Jim Rice 346 63.5
Andre Dawson 309 56.7
Bert Blyleven 260 47.7
Lee Smith 217 39.8
Jack Morris 202 37.1
Mark McGwire 128 23.5
Tommy John 125 22.9
Steve Garvey 115 21.1
Dave Concepcion 74 13.6
Alan Trammell 73 13.4
Dave Parker 62 11.4
Don Mattingly 54 9.9
Dale Murphy 50 9.2
Harold Baines 29 5.3
Orel Hershiser 24 4.4
Albert Belle 19 3.5
Paul O'Neill 12 2.2
Bret Saberhagen 7 1.3
Jose Canseco 6 1.1
Tony Fernandez 4 0.7
Dante Bichette 3 0.6
Eric Davis 3 0.6
Bobby Bonilla 2 0.4
Ken Caminiti 2 0.4
Jay Buhner 1 0.2
Scott Brosius 0 0
Wally Joyner 0 0
Devon White 0 0
Bobby Witt 0 0

[CansecoPower33]

So, McGwire is out but I've read a few articles that are making excuses for why they are going to vote Bonds in. This is nonsense. I'm boycotting the HOF. I won't darken the door of that place.

Amen.

HOF voting is but two things, a blatant popularity contest and a set of double standards. I've given up on the Hall a long time ago.

[Yankwood]

Amen.

HOF voting is but two things, a blatant popularity contest and a set of double standards. I've given up on the Hall a long time ago.

We should not let our fury get in the way of two very important points which I will now make.
1. Nothing is perfect and there will never be a perfect system for inductions, and...
2. It's still a great place which any and every hardcore baseball fan should attempt to visit.
I have been there probably 10 times at least. It's only a 3 hour drive for me and although nothing about it is exactly as I want it, I enjoy it immensely every time I go. I feel bad for those who live too far away. I consider myself VERY lucky to have the opportunity to visit.

[Nathan]

The problem isn't the BBWAA voting. In fact, I'd venture to say that the vast majority of players elected by the BBWAA are absolutely worthy. It's the Veterans Committee selections that defy logic (Phil Rizzuto? Jim Bottomley? Jesse freakin' Haines?)

I believe that one reason for Lee Smith's lower numbers than Gossage or Sutter is the number of one-inning appearances he had to get those saves. Smith appeared in 1022 games for 1289+ innings.

The better question is whether the BBWAA voters felt that McGwire is unworthy because of steroid accusations or simply because a lot felt he's not truly a HOF-caliber player. McGwire had a .263 career batting average, which is one-thousandth of a point higher than Ozzie Smith (whose selection was derided because "The guy batted .262!") with 12 fewer Gold Gloves. He had a .394 career OBP, which is definitely something that works in his favor, and the home runs totals are terrific. The sum of the parts is, in my opinion (and keep in mind this is coming from a Cardinals fan), a marginal candidate. He's less deserving than Gwynn and Ripken by a decent margin.

[JasonM33]

OK, so lets forget about steroids for a moment. If McGwire was a marginal Hall of Famer then I don't wnt anything to do with the place. McGwire was a dominant force in baseball for years. He got on base, and he drove in a lot of runs. Runs win games. Hit hit many a game winning home run including one in the World Series. His teams won a lot of games and he won awards. If he isn't worthy of getting in then they should shut the doors.

[earlywynnfan]

Two Comments:

1) I almost think Canseco's value in the collectibles market will be higher if he stays out of the HOF. He's become a cult player, like Kingman.

2) I figured someone would come up with the old "steroids weren't illegal in baseball" argument. Not exactly true; baseball has had a statement that any substance that is illegal in this country is banned. (If i had the time, I'd look up the exact rule, but it's in there.) So, were steroids SPECIFICALLY banned by baseball? No, but anyone this side of Don Fehr should understand that a substance banned in the US (at least without a prescription) is taboo in baseball. Does the rulebook specifically say that players cannot take crystal meth before a game? I'd bet not, but would we argue if a player was using it??

Ken

[3arod13]

Any thoughts.Mcgwire did not get in. Its going to be a long road.

Here's my struggle with this. Players have used things to enhance their performance for many years before the steroid era, but haven't been proven or an issue until now. In addition, there are the names we know now that used steriods. I'm sure there are many more, like Brady Anderson, who hit 50 HR's in 1996, but never hit more than 21 before 1996 and hit no higher than 24 after 1996. Yes, he's no hall of famer, but I'm sure there are so many others we don't know about.

McGwire hit 49 HR's as a rookie in 1987. From 1987 to 1992, he it 49, 32, 33, 39, 22 and 42 HR's, and was a proven HR hitter. No question after that, 1993 to 1994 which he only played 74 games and only it 18 HR's due to injuries. Then 1995 to 2001, he it 39, 52, 34, 24, 70, 65, 32 and 39 HR's.

McGwire definately started using steroids following his injury years (not an excuse). Do I believe he could still have hit HR's if he didn't use steroids. Yes. Do I think he should be in the hall of fame? Still a struggle.

[3arod13]

Before my comments get slammed, I want to make it clear. I am not saying it's ok because so many others did it. I believe in earning your stripes from natural ability. As you know, I was a big Juan Gonzalez fan. It killed me when I found he used steroids. His numbers weren't real due to his natural ability.

My stuggle is this has gone on (not steroids only) for years in sports and there are many in the hall of fame who are know to do things to cheat.

Ok, I'm standing by for my beating!