Over the last thirty-plus years, baseball has witnessed some of the most dominating back-end relievers to ever play the game. With closers taking a more predominant role during that span, the number of relievers to be considered for enshrinement into Cooperstown will continue to be discussed and considered among the BBWAA for years to come. Two such relievers appear on the ballot this winter,...
During a half-hour Q and A session with some ESPN reporters, new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said that Hall Of Fame voters should not assume people did Performance Enhancing Drugs without evidence. “I think it’s unfair for people to surmise that Player A did X, Y or Z, absent a positive test, or proof that we produced in an investigation, or whatever. I just think it runs...
I just returned from the post office where I dropped off my Hall of Fame ballot. It’s a ritual for me that on Dec. 31 every year I’ll fill out my ballot. I like holding on to it, read all I can about the players on the ballot, talk to those in the game and also to other voters. Like most kids I grew up with, and I imagine like most of you, I grew up a baseball junkie. I even logged on to check...
Oh man, did MLB Network’s Brian Kenny tick me off last night, when he revealed his 2014 Hall of Fame Ballot. Here is what he posted: My HOF ballot: Maddux, Thomas, Raines, Biggio, Schilling, Martinez, McGriff, Glavine, Mussina, Trammell. @CHConfidential — Brian Kenny (@MrBrianKenny) December 20, 2013 You may have noticed that Mike Piazza is a glaring omission, as is Jeff Bagwell who was...
Is it not really known why society loves to classify everything into black and white? Maybe it’s just easier to minimize everything down into it’s most simplistic form. When it comes down to it, the vast majority of major league baseball players have never played in a World Series, let alone win one. Some of the best players in the history of the game never won a World Series, are...
There are bad ways to win and good ways to lose. What’s interesting and troubling is that it’s not always clear which is which. — Grimsley, Pokemon Is it not really known why humans love to classify everything into black and white categories? Maybe it’s just easier to minimize everything down into it’s most simplistic form. When it comes down to it, the vast majority of...
This week, I’m expecting to reach my boiling point when it comes to the Hall of Fame and those who vote for it. I’m expecting to see Mike Piazza fall shy of the necessary votes to enter the Hall of Fame, and in my mind – that is a crime against baseball and the fans that every writer who doesn’t vote for him should be ashamed of. I’m not going to sugar coat this. I believe there is a very good...
Tonight, December 31, is the deadline for all eligible BBWAA voters to submit their Hall of Fame ballots. My own ballot has already been cast and I voted for Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Jeff Bagwell, Fred McGriff, Jack Morris, Don Mattingly and Tim Raines. I know many Met fans will anxiously await the outcome of the vote with the earnest hope that Mike Piazza gets in as first...
Today is the big day when the new class of Hall of Famers will be announced sometime around 1:00 PM EST. I say Hall of Famers, but my gut tells me only one player will be elected today; Roberto Alomar. Of course Alomar should have gotten in last year, but he fell a few votes short. This time he should get in with a solid majority. Unfortunately, other deserving players like Bert Blyleven, Jeff...
