Hall of Fame Voting Stirs Emotions

This year's Hall of Fame balloting, with the results announced tomorrow, is one of the most contentious in recent memory.

First, we have the best leadoff hitter in history, a man with 535 win shares, not receiving unanimous selection. Now this isn't really news, because no player in history has been unanimously elected. Rickey certainly has a chance to eclipse Tom Seaver for the highest percentage of votes in history.

Then again, 43 people failed to vote for Mickey Mantle, 23 for Willie Mays, 36 for Jackie Robinson, nine for Hank Aaron, 31 for Roberto Clemente, 57 for Yogi Berra, 23 for Stan Musial, 20 for Ted Williams and 28 for Joe DiMaggio.

Let me repeat that: 23 members of the BBWAA failed to vote for Willie Mays.

The rules for the voting are actually quite simple:

a) Authorization — By authorization of the Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc., the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is authorized to hold an election every year for the purpose of electing members to the National Baseball Hall of Fame from the ranks of retired baseball players.

B) Electors — Only active and honorary members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, who have been active baseball writers for at least ten (10) years, shall be eligible to vote. They must have been active as baseball writers and members of the Association for a period beginning at least ten (10) years prior to the date of election in which they are voting.

C) Eligible Candidates — Candidates to be eligible must meet the following requirements:

1. A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time during a period beginning twenty (20) years before and ending five (5) years prior to election.
2. Player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons, some part of which must have been within the period described in 3 (A).
3. Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5) calendar years preceding the election but may be otherwise connected with baseball.
4. In case of the death of an active player or a player who has been retired for less than five (5) full years, a candidate who is otherwise eligible shall be eligible in the next regular election held at least six (6) months after the date of death or after the end of the five (5) year period, whichever occurs first.
5. Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate.

D) Method of Election

1. BBWAA Screening Committee — A Screening Committee consisting of baseball writers will be appointed by the BBWAA. This Screening Committee shall consist of six members, with two members to be elected at each Annual Meeting for a three-year term. The duty of the Screening Committee shall be to prepare a ballot listing in alphabetical order eligible candidates who (1) received a vote on a minimum of five percent (5%) of the ballots cast in the preceding election or (2) are eligible for the first time and are nominated by any two of the six members of the BBWAA Screening Committee.
2. An elector will vote for no more than ten (10) eligible candidates deemed worthy of election. Write-in votes are not permitted.
3. Any candidate receiving votes on seventy-five percent (75%) of the ballots cast shall be elected to membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

E) Voting — Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

It is a very subjective process, and the last section in particular is the cause of most of the controversy. It's what keeps Pete Rose out. It's also interesting to see how it impacts the "steroid era" players, such as Mark McGwire, who won't make it yet again.

And what of this year's ballot? There is only one slam-dunk, sure-fire, don't vote for him or you're an idiot candidate--Ricky Henderson.

Then there are a bunch of guys on the bubble, and we all have fond memories of them (or not so fond depending on which team you rooted for). They are our heroes of the 70s, 80s and early 90s, an era with numbers quite different than what we've seen recently.

We have:

Jim Rice, in his final year of eligibility
Bert Blyleven, always the subject of HoF debate
Andre Dawson, who seems destined to be the Cubs next Ron Santo as far as voting goes
Jack Morris, a 254 game winner with an average ERA

And several other really solid candidates, including Rock Raines, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith and Dale Murphy.

ESPN recently revealed how their eligible BBWAA members voted. As you might suspect, the voting was all over the place.

Those in bold received more than three-quarters of ESPN.com's vote:

HOW ESPN.COM VOTED
PLAYER	'08 %	BO	BR	HB	JCa	JCr	JSt	MK	PGa	PGo	TK	TQ	VOTES (%)
*Rickey Henderson	N/A	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11 (100)
Jim Rice	72.2	X	--	X	X	X	X	--	X	X	X	X	9 (81.8)
Bert Blyleven	61.9	--	X	X	X	X	X	--	X	--	X	X	8 (72.7)
Andre Dawson	65.9	X	--	X	X	X	X	--	--	X	X	X	8 (72.7)
Jack Morris	42.9	X	--	--	X	X	X	--	X	--	X	X	7 (63.6)
Tim Raines	24.3	--	X	--	X	X	X	--	X	--	X	--	6 (54.5)
Mark McGwire	23.6	X	X	--	X	--	X	--	--	--	X	--	5 (45.4)
Alan Trammell	18.2	--	--	--	X	--	--	--	X	X	X	--	4 (36.4)
Lee Smith	43.3	--	X	--	--	--	--	X	--	X	X	--	4 (36.4)
Dale Murphy	13.8	--	--	--	--	--	X	--	--	--	--	X	2 (18.2)
Dave Parker	15.1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	X	--	--	1 (9.1)
*Jay Bell	N/A	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	X	--	--	1 (9.1)
* -- first year on ballot

THE VOTERS
BO = Buster Olney BR = Brendan Roberts HB = Howard Bryant JCa = Jim Caple	JCr = Jerry Crasnick JSt = Jayson Stark MK = Michael Knisley PGa = Peter Gammons	PGo = Pedro Gomez TK = Tim Kurkjian TQ = T.J. Quinn

Pedro Gomez voted for Jay Bell? Wow.

So my challenge to you is simple: who would you vote for and why? Rickey is the obvious choice, but for most of us, the guys below him on the ballot all have pluses and minuses.

My ballot is simple: Rickey, Blyleven, Jim Rice and Rock Raines.

I also believe that Ted Simmons is the most deserving player not on the ballot. Go look at his stats and compare them to other Hall of Fame Catchers.

He is eligible in 2011, when the Veteran's committee can vote him him. Simmons was dropped off the ballot after his first year because he did not receive the minimum number of votes to remain eligible...a travesty.

I loved Mark McGwire as a player, but I cannot vote for him right now...maybe next year.

So stay tuned for tomorrow's results...there will be controversy either way...in the meantime, let us know who you voted for.