The problem there is that voters are nimrods, so players who should have been 1st balloters were not. Plus, the media holds a grudge. I guarantee that Kent's surliness that pg1067 mentioned is held against him. Same for Barry Bonds, who was always an a-hole to the media. Meanwhile, Ortiz, a freaking DH, gets in on the first ballot because the media loves "Big Papi" and his smile. Albert Belle is another whose bad attitude worked against him. For him to get so little support and then fall off the ballot after only two years of consideration was a joke, and it shows what morons the voters are.
I agree with all that.
Take a look at the 1998 AL MVP voting. Belle's numbers that year: .328/.399/.655/1.055 (the SLG and OPS led the league, 49 HR and 152 RBI (and, by the way, he played 16
3 regular season games). His OPS+ was a staggering 172 (led the league by a wide margin). And he struck out less than 90 times. Did he win the MVP? Nope. OK...second, then? Nope. Not even close. Dude cam in EIGHTH and didn't receive a single first place vote. Juan Gonzalez, who had 5 more RBI than Belle but was otherwise an inferior hitter (and an equally bad defender), won with 21/28 first place votes (the other 7 going to Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter). Perhaps Fernando Vina was tabulating the ballots.
I have zero sympathy for Rose. While his actions after he retired technically should not have mattered, he bet on baseball and then lied about it for years. He made his own bed.
To me, it's less about sympathy for Rose as it is credibility of the HOF (which I suppose is a lost cause at this point, but still). Whether he gets in while he's still alive or posthumously, he needs to be there.
The Hall should be reserved for the very best to ever play the game. Not guys who were just very good in their era.
I gotta disagree with that. The game has changed. Are we going to say that no modern pitcher deserves to get in (other than Nolan Ryan) because they don't have 4,000+ strikeouts or 400+ wins? And that the guys who played pre-WWII were better hitters because they routinely hit .400+? The era in which they played has to mean something.
It's going to be beyond dumb when they put in Yadier Molina. Check the comps. That guy should have his number retired by the Cardinals, but in no way is he one of the best players to play the game. But he'll be enshrined. Mark my words. it's just plain dumb what the Hall is doing from a pure baseball history standpoint. It's a total sham.
I have to disagree with that as well. Clutch hitter when it counted (despite being an overall pedestrian hitter) and THE best defensive catcher to play the game in any of our lifetimes (if not ever). And I include in that his management of the pitching staff. Base stealing has been on a decline this century, but Molina completely eliminated it from opponents' arsenals. The only other catcher in the last 30 years to do that was Ivan Rodriguez (and Molina did it better). I'm obviously an outsider, but if you ask me who was the most valuable Cardinal during their run of 6 NLCS appearances, 3 World Series and 2 championships between 2005-14, I'd be hard pressed to say anyone other than Molina. Ozzie Smith got in because he's arguably the best defensive shortstop of all time, and Molina will get in for the same reason.
The fact that Hank Aaron was not a unanimous selection tells me everything about HOF voters. When he retired, he was 1st in HR, RBI, Total Bases, Extra Base Hits, 2nd in hits, and THAT didn't get him a unanimous selection. In fact, he's still the leader in RBI, Total Bases and Extra Base Hits!! FFS, Babe Ruth was left off of 11 ballots in the year of his induction!!!! The only unanimous selection? Mariano Rivera.
That whole nonsense is...well...nonsensical. "Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous, so I'll be damned if that Griffey kid is going to be" (and, in Aaron's case, we all know there were other factors in play). Seriously...anyone who didn't vote for Aaron or Griffey (and several others) should have been hauled before a tribunal and been required to make the case for why those guys don't belong in the HOF and, when they fail to come up with anything that makes sense, they should be stripped of their vote.