Harold Baines.....Lee Smith in Hall of Fame

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Decent chance someone submits an empty ballot.

Empty ballots don't count, IIRC.  If a ballot is empty, it just never happened.  

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Frobby said:

I feel the same way you do.    But I think he’ll draw a few no votes.   There’s always someone.   

Here's hoping.  It's annoying enough to have to have a Yankee go in, but it'll be insufferable to hear "THE FIRST UNANIMOUS HALL OF FAMER EVERRRRR" all summer, too.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Empty ballots don't count, IIRC.  If a ballot is empty, it just never happened.  

That would be odd.  I figured unsubmitted ballots wouldn't be counted but a blank ballot should be honored, and then they should look into pulling the voters vote.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Here's hoping.  It's annoying enough to have to have a Yankee go in, but it'll be insufferable to hear "THE FIRST UNANIMOUS HALL OF FAMER EVERRRRR" all summer, too.

The truth is, there are many guys who deserved to go in unanimously.   Like you, I don’t really doubt Rivera deserves to go in, it would just be annoying if he were the first unanimous selection.   Though gun to my head, I’d rather it be him than Jeter.

[Number5]

Just now, Frobby said:

The truth is, there are many guys who deserved to go in unanimously.   Like you, I don’t really doubt Rivera deserves to go in, it would just be annoying if he were the first unanimous selection.   Though gun to my head, I’d rather it be him than Jeter.

Yeah.  I've always thought that it is ridiculous that there are people that have a vote who actually failed to vote for Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, etc.  Impossible to justify.

[DrungoHazewood]

11 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Please, someone just someone not vote for Rivera.  I don't feel like I ask for much, I just want someone to not vote for him.  I'm not against someone getting 100% of the vote, I just don't want a Yankee and a closer to be the one.  But I feel like Ken Griffey Jr would have been much more deserving of earning 100%, or even Chipper Jones.  Chipper was a .300/.400/.500 guy, FFS.  Griffey was the face of baseball for a decade.  

Although by this point, I don't think anyone will NOT vote for him.  Maybe someone will, but their ballot won't be public.  No one wants to write that column about why they didn't vote for Rivera and get slammed on twitter.  

Rivera getting 100% of the vote while Ruth, Aaron, Mays, etc didn't would fit the HOF's scattershot history quite well.  

And I'm pretty sure a blank ballot counts, as the voter indicating he thinks there are no worthy candidates on the ballot.

[Moose Milligan]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The truth is, there are many guys who deserved to go in unanimously.   Like you, I don’t really doubt Rivera deserves to go in, it would just be annoying if he were the first unanimous selection.   Though gun to my head, I’d rather it be him than Jeter.

I'd rather it be Jeter.  I don't have anything against closers getting into the Hall but...I mean, c'mon.  The first unanimous player elected can't be a closer (even if he was the best closer of all time).

 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'd rather it be Jeter.  I don't have anything against closers getting into the Hall but...I mean, c'mon.  The first unanimous player elected can't be a closer (even if he was the best closer of all time).

 

At least he was the best ever at his position. 

Jetes being the first unanimous will have Yankee fans screaming he was the best position player ever.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'd rather it be Jeter.  I don't have anything against closers getting into the Hall but...I mean, c'mon.  The first unanimous player elected can't be a closer (even if he was the best closer of all time).

 

I just dislike the Jeter hype more than the Rivera hype.   I don’t like the idea of a closer being the first guy to be unanimous, but at least you can make a good argument that he’s the best closer of all time.   Jeter is not the best SS of all time, not close.  

[DrungoHazewood]

17 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Yeah.  I've always thought that it is ridiculous that there are people that have a vote who actually failed to vote for Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, etc.  Impossible to justify.

In earlier days some things we take for granted were not so clear, and the voting system has always been screwed up.  In the 40s, 50s, and even into the 60s there was a huge backlog of candidates with some years seeing dozens and dozens of eventual enshrinees on the ballot, but you could only vote for 10.  It was apparently unclear or unstated that a player had to be retired for five years - DiMaggio and others got votes when they were still active.  Lefty Grove got a handful of votes after he'd already gone in.  I'd assume several writers didn't vote for Willie Mays because they forgot he was eligible that year.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Jeter is not the best SS of all time, not close.  

He has a pretty good case for the best LFer of all time who inexplicably played shortstop instead.  His career is a lot like Dwight Evans', if only the Red Sox had decided to put Dewey at short no matter what.

[Number5]

5 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

In earlier days some things we take for granted were not so clear, and the voting system has always been screwed up.  In the 40s, 50s, and even into the 60s there was a huge backlog of candidates with some years seeing dozens and dozens of eventual enshrinees on the ballot, but you could only vote for 10.  It was apparently unclear or unstated that a player had to be retired for five years - DiMaggio and others got votes when they were still active.  Lefty Grove got a handful of votes after he'd already gone in.  I'd assume several writers didn't vote for Willie Mays because they forgot he was eligible that year.

Very doubtful.  Willie Mays became eligible in 1979.  It was well-known that it was his first year of eligibility.  Amazingly, 5.3% of the people with a vote failed to vote for him.  Ridiculous.

[DrungoHazewood]

13 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Very doubtful.  Willie Mays became eligible in 1979.  It was well-known that it was his first year of eligibility.  Amazingly, 5.3% of the people with a vote failed to vote for him.  Ridiculous.

Someone probably didn't vote for him because he was automatic and they really wanted to make sure Hal Lanier got a vote.  Which he did.

[Palmoripken]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I just dislike the Jeter hype more than the Rivera hype.   I don’t like the idea of a closer being the first guy to be unanimous, but at least you can make a good argument that he’s the best closer of all time.   Jeter is not the best SS of all time, not close.  

Same. I think it will be moot tho. Can’t see Mo getting unanimous. I’m with you. I don’t like the idea of a closer being the first. Rivera funnily is the only Yankee I never have disliked. Annoyed by sure but deserved his hype more than Jeter who wasn’t even the best SS on his team let alone of all time. Jeter is a legit HoFer but I can think of five SS’s I take over him: Cal, Wagner, Banks, Arod,  & Ozzie. And I’m sure you could make a case for others. Jeter benefited from playing in NY and being a handsome guy who dated beautiful women. It doesn’t dimimsh that he was a great player but he was not the Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio or Babe Ruth of those teams.

[Moose Milligan]

I'll also say I think Chipper Jones should have been the first unanimous player elected because he got a Hooters waitress pregnant and no one else has that on their resume (that we know of).

At least it adds to MY HoF standards.