Halo Headlines: Percival and Erstad fall off Hall of Fame ballot, has the Angels name change helped?

The January 7th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Percival and Erstad fall off Hall of Fame ballot, has the Angels name change helped and much more…

The Story: Troy Percival and Darin Erstad received four and one votes for the Hall of Fame, respectively.
The Monkey Says: They were both well short of staying on the ballot for a second year. Erstad though is being pointed at as the poster boy for a comical Hall of Fame ballot. That’s understandable as even he admitted he didn’t deserve the vote. The hysteria isn’t really justified though. We don’t know who cast the ballot or why, but I guarantee that the person who voted for Erstad didn’t include him and begrudgingly leave off a more deserving candidate. It was probably an anti-PED oldster who voted for just six players, so he threw Ersty a vote because he “played the game the right way.”

The Story: 10 years later, has the Angels name change made a difference?
The Monkey Says: There is nothing conclusive here other than it clearly didn’t hurt the team, outside of the legal fees. I’m not sold it helped vault them to these new heights of pulling 3 million in attendance every year and landing a monster TV contract though. Like I said, it didn’t hurt, but I don’t know that there is a way to quantify how it actually helped.

The Story: Appreciating this year’s one-and-done Hall of Fame candidates.
The Monkey Says: (Pours one out for Percy and Ersty)

The Story: Bobby Grich still finds supporters after missing out on the Hall of Fame.
The Monkey Says: Grich’s exclusion continues to be a travesty of justice. I keep hoping some veteran’s committee type special election will eventually get him in, but I just don’t think that is a realistic hope.