This isn’t five voters who forgot to vote, they intentionally turned in blank ballots. Why? We don’t know all of the reasons why except for one guy, Jay Mariotti.

I didn’t vote for anybody in the baseball hall of fame this year. Ya know why?  To me…the first ballot is sacred. I think Roberto Alomar is an eventual Hall of Famer, not the first time. Edgar Martinez, designated hitter, eventually, but not the first time. Same goes for maybe Fred McGriff. As far as Blyleven and Dawson…if they haven’t gotten in for years and years I cannot vote them in now. Ripken, Rickey Henderson and Gwynn. They are true first ballot Hall of Famers, but I didn’t vote for anybody, throw me out of the Baseball Writers. I don’t care. SOURCE

Wow, I’m sure that was a great reason.

Personally, I can’t believe that five voters who have a pretty big responsibility didn’t have the consideration to at least vote. If they don’t want to vote, they should give the responsibility to someone who does care about the Baseball Hall of Fame. For crying out loud, Jay even asked to be kicked out. Please, someone do it.

Why is this significant, ask Bert Blyleven about how he feels about missing out on the Hall of Fame for the 13th time. Guess how many votes he needed to get in?

5

I can’t believe that five people don’t think that following baseball players were worthy of the Hall of Fame, at all:

• Andre Dawson
• Bert Blyleven
• Roberto Alomar
• Jack Morris
• Barry Larkin
• Lee Smith
• Edgar Martinez
• Tim Raines
• Fred McGriff
• Don Mattingly

All are All-Star calibre players that any manager would have loved to have on their team. Great players whose names any baseball fan knows. Are they all worthy of the Hall of Fame, no, but you can’t tell me that none of these players deserve to get in. I also don’t think it’s right to leave the ballot blank just because you want to make a statement.

Something needs to be done about the Hall of Fame voting.

No related posts.

YARPP

From http://www.gettyimages.com/

It’s been 9 years, but former Cub great, Andre Dawson, has finally made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I am very happy about the news. Last year, I posted about my disappointment that he didn’t make it.

Dawson’s numbers were not staggering, especially when compared to the juiced ball era that we are coming out of. His lack of any dominating category explains why he wasn’t a first year Hall of Fame player. He got in by how he played.

Dawson began his career in Montreal with the Expos, now the Washington Nationals. Early in his career, Dawson was known for his speed and great hitting. He and Tim Raines were a lethal pair. Unfortunately, the artificial turf in Olympic Statium destroyed his knees, and he was unable to run like he did in his early years. Throughout the rest of his career, his knees bothered him. Dawson’s problems with his knees started from high school football. He added power to his skill set to offset his lack of speed.

After playing on the turf for 11 years in Montreal, he had to move. Montreal was not going to resign him as they were afraid of the condition of his knees. Most teams were unsure of his knees and were hesitant to sign him. Dawson also knew he had to get back onto playing on the grass. He talked with the Cubs to ask if they would sign him, and they did. He just wanted to play, and he told the Cubs he would play for what ever they wanted to pay him. He got paid $500,000 that year, compared to $1.2 M the previous year. That season (1987), he then went on to turn in his MVP season for a Cub team that went on to be last place in their division that year. That year he led the league in Total Bases (353), HR’s (49) and RBI’s (137). MVP’s typically get picked from winning teams, but Dawson played so well, he was able to secure the honor despite his team’s lack of success.

I can remember watching him play on WGN as a kid. He was a great player, a steady clean up hitter. He struck out a lot, but could hit. My favorite thing about Dawson was watching his fielding. He played right field in Wrigley. The winds in Wrigley make it one of the toughest right fields to play. I remember watching him throw runners out with is powerful arm. My favorite was when he would charge a hard hit single and throw out the runner at first because the runner wasn’t hustling. The Wrigley faithful respected him. The bleacher bums in right would bow down as he would take his position.

Dawson’s teammates spoke highly of him. Although his knees hurt constantly and limited his potential, he didn’t complain and he didn’t let his knees stop him from giving 100%.

Dawson played for the Montreal Expos (76-86), the Chicago Cubs (87-92), the Boston Red Sox (93-94), and the Florida Marlins (95-96). His highlights are as follows:

• Rookie of The Year 1977
• MVP 1987
• Eight Gold Gloves
• Eight All-Star games
• Four Silver Slugger Awards
  
• Third Player in history to have 400 HR and 300 SB

His career numbers:

Batting Average: .279
OPS: .806
HR: 438
RBI: 1591
SB: 314
Fld%: .983

Now, to find out what cap he is going to wear when he is inducted this summer. I’m hoping they chose a Cubs hat. Way to go Hawk!

No related posts.

YARPP