Apparently two writers didn't vote at all in protest of the steroids issue. Get a grip and give up your rights, people, if you think that is appropriate.
Mark McGwire received less votes than last year and only received roughly 22% of the votes. See previous paragraph.
Tim Raines used coke early in his career and apparently is still paying for it (though Paul Molitor cruised through and had the same problem). But Molitor got to 3000 hits (mostly as a DH) and Raines didn't. Raines only mustered 22.6% of the votes. Absurd and...umm...stupid.
Andre Dawson was 44 votes shy of getting elected, which is about right. Poor Burt Blyleven only went up by two votes and is still stuck at roughly 63%. Jack Morris and Lee Smith both came in around 44%. Tommy John finished his 15 year run with 31% and Dave Parker, Alan Trammell and the rest are not even mentioned in most articles on the subject. You can see the full list here.
The Fan has been debating the Raines and Lee Smith votes and Keith Law is probably correct that race might be a factor in both votes. That is a hard position to take considering that both of this year's electees are African American. But one has to wonder why Lee Smith is not worthy and Bruce Sutter is? Or why Molitor got a pass and Raines hasn't.
And it can't be because Raines fell short of 3000 hits. If that was the case, how did Rice get in? It's troubling and...yes...fickle.
3 comments:
I would think Dawson would be a shoe-in for next year's vote, since there are no Ricky Hendersons to contend with and he got 67% this year. Tim Raines SHOULD get in, but for whatever reason he's never really gotten his due.
I don't know, Josh. I have a sneaking feeling that Dawson has gone as high as he's going to go. There is a fairly strong new group on the ballot next year (Roberto Alomar, to name one). But you are right in that Dawson's candidacy resembles Rice's and might go the same way.
I know the Hall has long been big on "magic" numbers (ie, 300 wins, 3000 hits, 500 hrs, etc..), and while I agree that those numbers are important, I believe that it should be taken into consideration how dominant a player is for his team, and in the case of Rice, do you think pitchers would have been as scared of the Sox lineup if Rice wasn't in it. Same goes for Dawson. They might not have reached those "magic" numbers but they changed the way pitchers prepared for their respective teams and that should count for something.
While on the subject of the Hall. I am going to voice something here that has been on my mind for a long time. Pete Rose should be in the Hall, period. I know what he did shamed the game, and he lied about it, but he did finally come clean and apologize. Why should he still be sitting on the outskirts, while the man who's record he broke(an admitted racist, criminal and overall SOB)ty cobb have his plaque hanging in the hall? I call on Selig to come to his senses and reinstate the hits king. Hell, Gaylord Perry's in there and I'm guessing he threw 70% spitballs, but he's in. Can I see this code of ethics that shows what version of cheating is better than the others? I could probably make some money with it?
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