2025 Major League Baseball Thread

[Navster]

Originally Posted by walruswarrior

Pettitte has more than both put together

Touché

[fatediesel]

Dan Le Batard has received his punishment for giving his Hall of Fame vote to Deadspin:

Dan Le Batard Show ‏@LeBatardShow
Max penalty: BBWAA just lifetime banned me from Hall of Fame vote and won't allow me to attend a game as credentialed media for a year.

[A Sith Lord?]

Which is sad because Gurnick is the real jackass.

LeBetard is just the fan's vote.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

Dan Le Batard has received his punishment for giving his Hall of Fame vote to Deadspin:

More hypocricy from the BBWAA. Par for course.

Refuse to vote for ANYONE who played during an entire era of the game = gets to keep HOF vote.

Turn vote over for the fans to decide = lifetime ban.

What a joke.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

More hypocricy from the BBWAA. Par for course.

Refuse to vote for ANYONE who played during an entire era of the game = gets to keep HOF vote.

Turn vote over for the fans to decide = lifetime ban.

What a joke.

Yeah, the ballot Le Batard turned in was a lot better than some ballots. At least you can make a case for everyone on Le Batard's ballot. I'd love to hear the justification of the voter who voted for Jaque Jones or Armondo Benitez, or the two voters who voted for J.T. Snow. Jones and Snow never made an All Star team, and Benitez was a fairly average closer who is #25 all time in saves. I have to assume whoever voted for those guys is a beat writer for one of the teams they played on who became friends with them, because there is no way you can say they had Hall of Fame careers.

[Clark Kent]

Dan selling or giving his vote away to someone else was one step removed from a rich player buying his way into the Hall of Fame, one vote at a time. They had to ban his voting privileges for life. Whatever problems with the process, that was no way to handle a protest.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Dan selling or giving his vote away to someone else was one step removed from a rich player buying his way into the Hall of Fame, one vote at a time. They had to ban his voting privileges for life. Whatever problems with the process, that was no way to handle a protest.

How is giving your vote up to the masses akin to someone buying their way into the HoF?

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by sycro

How is giving your vote up to the masses akin to someone buying their way into the HoF?

You don't think Craig Biggio would have liked two more votes this year? He could easily afford buying a couple of votes with the money he earned as a player, if a writer could simply transfer his voting to another person.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

You don't think Craig Biggio would have liked two more votes this year? He could easily afford buying a couple of votes with the money he earned as a player, if a writer could simply transfer his voting to another person.

But there was no money exchanged. Banning somebody for saying "hey, people out there, tell me who I should vote for" is ridiculous.

[sycro]

We now know 2 people that didn't vote for Maddux, as Larry Rocca also has a "nobody from PED era" rule, so he obviously was one of the 6 to vote for Hideo Nomo [not joking]. Along with Tim Raines and Jack Morris. And Alam Trammel.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

You don't think Craig Biggio would have liked two more votes this year? He could easily afford buying a couple of votes with the money he earned as a player, if a writer could simply transfer his voting to another person.

No money changed hands. No ballot was bought. I have no idea what you're babbling on about.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

No money changed hands. No ballot was bought. I have no idea what you're babbling on about.

Dan handed his ballot over for someone else's control. Deadspin originally had another writer's vote lined up before Dan's, but that unknown writer had wanted Deadspin to make a sizable donation to charity. Millions of dollars are at stake for the Hall of Fame. It used to provide a huge source of retirement income for the legends that made it, signing autographs and the like.

This was a serious breach of impropriety and if it were operated like a normal business, Dan likely would have been sued by someone. But people want to make grand statements about the voting process and forget these type of details.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Dan handed his ballot over for someone else's control. Deadspin originally had another writer's vote lined up before Dan's, but that unknown writer had wanted Deadspin to make a sizable donation to charity. Millions of dollars are at stake for the Hall of Fame. It used to provide a huge source of retirement income for the legends that made it, signing autographs and the like.

This was a serious breach of impropriety and if it were operated like a normal business, Dan likely would have been sued by someone. But people want to make grand statements about the voting process and forget these type of details.

Grand statements like a voter refusing to vote for anyone from an entire 15'ish year period or a good number of voters refusing to vote ANYONE in during their first year of eligibility? Because that's what the HOF has become. Turning a vote over to the fans is far less absurd and no more a breach of the rules of the BBWAA than some of the other ways voters determine who to put on their ballot.

And by the way, most of the ballots are never even publicly released, so there could very well be actually selling of votes that we don't know about. At least Le Batard was man enough to release his ballot publicly and state his reasons for voting the way he did. Here's the link. Only 136 of 571 HOF voters had the stones to even reveal their ballot publicly.

http://deadspin.com/136-hall-of-fame...ots-1498663682

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by MasturB

Griffey Jr. might be the first unanimous guy to get in...

Junior is my favorite player since Hank Aaron, but there is no way he'll be a unanimous choice. I bet he gets around 90%.

If a squeaky clean, sub-90 mph pitcher like Maddux couldn't even get higher than 97%, then it seems highly doubtful that a slugger who played in the PED era will get unanimous support.

I mean we already know of at least one voter who refuses to vote for anyone who played in the 1990's, even though he did hypocritically vote for Jack Morris (played through 1994).

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Blu-Malibu2009

Junior is my favorite player since Hank Aaron, but there is no way he'll be a unanimous choice. I bet he gets around 90%.

If a squeaky clean, sub-90 mph pitcher like Maddux couldn't even get higher than 97%, then it seems highly doubtful that a slugger who played in the PED era will get unanimous support.

I mean we already know of at least one voter who refuses to vote for anyone who played in the 1990's, even though he did hypocritically vote for Jack Morris (played through 1994).

No player will EVER get into the HOF with 100%. There are a few voters who outright refuse to put anyone in on the first ballot. Not sure why anyone will think that will ever change. HOF voters are a screwy bunch.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

No player will EVER get into the HOF with 100%. There are a few voters who outright refuse to put anyone in on the first ballot. Not sure why anyone will think that will ever change. HOF voters are a screwy bunch.

Agree. But you know it's oddly appropriate. If the likes of Ruth couldn't get 100%, then no one should.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Blu-Malibu2009

Agree. But you know it's oddly appropriate. If the likes of Ruth couldn't get 100%, then no one should.

You're the problem.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by sycro

You're the problem.

I'm not a voter, so no I'm not the problem.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Blu-Malibu2009

I'm not a voter, so no I'm not the problem.

But you have the same mindset as many of those who neglect to vote for someone.

You want to know a case where it's okay to leave a Maddux or Aaron or Mays or Randy Johnson next year off the list? Because there are 11 deserving guys and you know Maddux is going to make it, so you'd rather include the 11th.

Of the 2 ballots we know that didn't include Maddux, they voted for 1 and 4 people. At least several others are believed to have been blank.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by sycro

But you have the same mindset as many of those who neglect to vote for someone.

You want to know a case where it's okay to leave a Maddux or Aaron or Mays or Randy Johnson next year off the list? Because there are 11 deserving guys and you know Maddux is going to make it, so you'd rather include the 11th.

Of the 2 ballots we know that didn't include Maddux, they voted for 1 and 4 people. At least several others are believed to have been blank.

If I were a voter, I wouldn't pull the whole "don't vote for anyone on the first ballot" schtick. Just saying I understand why some people don't want to vote on the first ballot if the best to ever play didn't even get unanimous support. Even so, the elite players will still get their due. Maddux did very well at 97%. Biggio got screwed. 2 lousy votes.