Hall of Fame ballot now limited to 10 years

[Dom Heffner]

How does Tom Seaver....who I loved ... et the highest % of votes over Mays, Aaron?

Sportswriters.....the people who love to tell you what is right and wrong and act like they are above it all.... like Tom Seaver as a person more.

Yet I am supposed to respect these writers? Dick Young was one guy I could not stand and lived up to his first name very well.

In trying to make it this hallowed thing, they've made it not so much.

I mean, honestly- who didn't vote for Babe Ruth? Aaron? Mays?

It's a quackery.

[Big Klu]

Honestly, I prefer the "big hall" philosophy of the Pro Football HOF in Canton to the "small hall" philosophy of the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown.

Cooperstown thinks of themselves as the prestigious, exclusive, elite fraternity like the Omegas in in Animal House. It's like they want to keep players out to maintain the Hall's superiority.

On the other hand, Canton is the fun-loving inclusive party like Delta House. They want former players to be included and welcomed to the club. The more the merrier.

[KronoRed]

Honestly, I prefer the "big hall" philosophy of the Pro Football HOF in Canton to the "small hall" philosophy of the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown.

Cooperstown thinks of themselves as the prestigious, exclusive, elite fraternity like the Omegas in in Animal House. It's like they want to keep players out to maintain the Hall's superiority.

On the other hand, Canton is the fun-loving inclusive party like Delta House. They want former players to be included and welcomed to the club. The more the merrier.

Perfect analogy.

[Todd Gack]

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but I figured I'd comment on it since we're loosely talking about the HOF.

Why don't we have HOF introductions during All-Star week? Are we really having a few weeks after the ASG on a Sunday afternoon? This is supposed to be the most prestigious Hall and I barely heard about it. MLB does such a crappy job promoting their sport.

It's worse than starting Opening Day on a Monday afternoon.

[BCubb2003]

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but I figured I'd comment on it since we're loosely talking about the HOF.

Why don't we have HOF introductions during All-Star week? Are we really having a few weeks after the ASG on a Sunday afternoon? This is supposed to be the most prestigious Hall and I barely heard about it. MLB does such a crappy job promoting their sport.

It's worse than starting Opening Day on a Monday afternoon.

There used to be a Hall of Fame Game that went with it, an inter-league game when there wasn't any others. And if it's during the All-Star Break, the ceremonies would have to be in the All-Star city, where the baseball world has gathered, instead of in Cooperstown. It would be good though to have more distance between the ASB and the HOF.

[Tony Cloninger]

Honestly, I prefer the "big hall" philosophy of the Pro Football HOF in Canton to the "small hall" philosophy of the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown.

Cooperstown thinks of themselves as the prestigious, exclusive, elite fraternity like the Omegas in in Animal House. It's like they want to keep players out to maintain the Hall's superiority.

On the other hand, Canton is the fun-loving inclusive party like Delta House. They want former players to be included and welcomed to the club. The more the merrier.

I don't know.

During an interview with a couple of radio talk shows host, including Chet Forte Director of MNF during it's hayday..... One of the voters talked about how the SD Writer did not like Kenny Anderson and would not vote for him in the HOF.... all due to the fact he was not very talkative and friendly.

Several players like Mel Gray, Cliff Branch and Lemar Parrish who should have at least been considered for the Hall ....are not, so to me it is more elitist than the MLB HOF.... because you have to win championships or who knows what.

I mean Cliff Branch was just as good if not better than Swann and he was on 3 SB teams and played WR at a time when you got your head knocked off running down the field, legally until the QB threw the ball.

So I do not buy their mentality is better than baseball's.....there attitude might not be like an exclusive English Tea Club but they are not that easy to break into either.

[dfs]

This pretty much means Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez have no chance of getting in.

Deserving or not, Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez were not going to be voted in by the old system anyway.

[sdwagers]

C Trent was talking to Marty on the radio broadcast yesterday - he gets a vote for next year - says that he'll vote for Bonds and Clemens, also said their a integrity rule in place so you can't give your vote to deadspin.

[cumberlandreds]

Make it 5.

I think five is enough. It's not like these guys are gong to improve upon their stats during their waiting time. Just don't limit how many you can vote for at any one time. If you think 10 guys are worthy then vote for them when they first appear on the ballot. I always thought this first time ballot thing was nonsense. IIRC, Joe DiMaggio was on the ballot for three years before he made it. That's crazy.

[reds44]

When you consider the baseball Hall of Fame doesn't house either the all time hits or all time homer leader, does it really matter to begin with?

[Big Klu]

Since they are cutting the number to 10, maybe they should retroactively remove all members who took more than ten tries to get elected. (They would be eligible to be reelected under the current Veterans' Committee format.) That would make the club even more exclusive!

[cumberlandreds]

MLB Network or ESPN had on their crawl the players who had been elected in years 11 through 15. It was only six in total. Blyleven and Duke Snider were two of them. I can't remember the others now.

[RedsBaron]

MLB Network or ESPN had on their crawl the players who had been elected in years 11 through 15. It was only six in total. Blyleven and Duke Snider were two of them. I can't remember the others now.

MLB.com lists a dozen players who were elected to the HOF in years 11 through 15 of being on the ballot:
Dazzy Vance, Duke Snider, Harry Heilmann, Jim Rice, Red Ruffing, Bert Blyleven, Rabbit Maranville, Bill Terry, Bruce Sutter, Bob Lemon, Gabby Hartnett, Ralph Kiner.

I have never understood why anyone would want the HOF to be full of players who last played in 1910 or 1930 and who were not nearly as good as a large number of more recent players who are left out.

[RedsBaron]

I don't know.

During an interview with a couple of radio talk shows host, including Chet Forte Director of MNF during it's hayday..... One of the voters talked about how the SD Writer did not like Kenny Anderson and would not vote for him in the HOF.... all due to the fact he was not very talkative and friendly.

Several players like Mel Gray, Cliff Branch and Lemar Parrish who should have at least been considered for the Hall ....are not, so to me it is more elitist than the MLB HOF.... because you have to win championships or who knows what.

I mean Cliff Branch was just as good if not better than Swann and he was on 3 SB teams and played WR at a time when you got your head knocked off running down the field, legally until the QB threw the ball.

So I do not buy their mentality is better than baseball's.....there attitude might not be like an exclusive English Tea Club but they are not that easy to break into either.

I think the problem with NFL HOF voting is that the voters are a relatively small group which may have enabled a few voters to blackball players they did not like. SI's Paul Zimmerman apparently waged a successful effort to blackball Ken Stabler. Jerry Kramer is voted to the NFL's all time team but has been denied induction in Canton. It is ridiculous that Dan Fouts is in the HOF and Ken Anderson is not.