A succinct appraisal of the Hall of Fame voting

I was planning on putting together a post regarding the Hall of Fame today, regarding the fact that nobody was elected to Hall by the BBWAA. I had some crystalline points and a well thought out opinion on the matter, I believed. In fact, I was asked the question earlier this afternoon, and then heard a similar response from, of all people, Jim Souhan on ESPN1500.

Anyways, my response to the question “what are your thoughts on the writers shutting out people from the Hall of Fame this year” is as follows.

Personally, I view the HOF as a museum, and put an emphasis on the “fame” portion. Statistics are important inasmuch as they help a team to win in the present, so they aren’t a HUGE deal to me (good news for Jack Morris!) when it comes to electing players for the Hall of Fame. But you have to look at how players and their careers have told the story of the history of the game, in my opinion, whether or not they were cheaters or may have some character issues.

I would argue that players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds saved baseball, with the attention they drew to the game after the strike in 1994, and they would all be in if I voted, along with Morris and Clemens. But the way the voting works, the way voting in any election of anything works, people look after their own interests and have their own standards, and the hall is different things to different people.

So, I guess I don’t mind that nobody got in.