Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot 2007

[STL FANATIC]

Why I hate idiot sportswriters:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base...e.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. will fall short of becoming the first unanimous Hall of Fame picks, and Mark McGwire doesn't figure to be anywhere close to the necessary 75 percent when 2007 voting is released Tuesday.

Paul Ladewski of the Daily Southtown in suburban Chicago wrote in a column Monday that he submitted a blank ballot because of doubts he had over performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

"At this point, I don't have nearly enough information to make a value judgment of this magnitude. In particular, that concerns any player in the Steroids Era, which I consider to be the 1993-2004 period, give or a take a season," Ladewski wrote.

"This isn't to suggest that Gwynn or Ripken or the majority of the other eligible candidates padded his statistics with performance-enhancers and cheated the game, their predecessors and the fans in the process. ... But tell me, except for the players themselves, who can say what they put into their bodies over the years with any degree of certainty?"

Why punish Gwynn and Ripken because of McGwire's stupidity? Give me a freaking break.

Blaming that on McGwire? That's stupid. McGwire isn't even proven to have taken steriods and you're blaming the entire era on him?

And don't for a second tell me it's not legitimate to wonder if Ripken took steroids. Steroids help the body recover, and Ripken's body recovered game after game after game...

I certainly don't think Ripken took them. More than likely the steroids long term effect of breaking the body down would have set in on Ripken before his streak would have reached what it did.

But he could have taken them.

Remember, steroids aren't about size and power. The majority of players who have tested positive for steroids haven't had those traits.

And McGwire was considered just as classy and just as much of a good guy as Ripken until this steroid witch hunt condemned him.

I think it stupid keeping anyone out over simple suspiscion, but I at least respect the fact that this writer is willing to be consistant.

Anyone could have taken them, so if you're not ready to let a home run hitter in who might have taken them, then don't let anyone in.

[CaolinaJoe]

Why I hate idiot sportswriters:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base...e.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. will fall short of becoming the first unanimous Hall of Fame picks, and Mark McGwire doesn't figure to be anywhere close to the necessary 75 percent when 2007 voting is released Tuesday.

Paul Ladewski of the Daily Southtown in suburban Chicago wrote in a column Monday that he submitted a blank ballot because of doubts he had over performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

"At this point, I don't have nearly enough information to make a value judgment of this magnitude. In particular, that concerns any player in the Steroids Era, which I consider to be the 1993-2004 period, give or a take a season," Ladewski wrote.

"This isn't to suggest that Gwynn or Ripken or the majority of the other eligible candidates padded his statistics with performance-enhancers and cheated the game, their predecessors and the fans in the process. ... But tell me, except for the players themselves, who can say what they put into their bodies over the years with any degree of certainty?"

Why punish Gwynn and Ripken because of McGwire's stupidity? Give me a freaking break.

Blaming that on McGwire? That's stupid. McGwire isn't even proven to have taken steriods and you're blaming the entire era on him?

And don't for a second tell me it's not legitimate to wonder if Ripken took steroids. Steroids help the body recover, and Ripken's body recovered game after game after game...

I certainly don't think Ripken took them. More than likely the steroids long term effect of breaking the body down would have set in on Ripken before his streak would have reached what it did.

But he could have taken them.

Remember, steroids aren't about size and power. The majority of players who have tested positive for steroids haven't had those traits.

And McGwire was considered just as classy and just as much of a good guy as Ripken until this steroid witch hunt condemned him.

I think it stupid keeping anyone out over simple suspiscion, but I at least respect the fact that this writer is willing to be consistant.

Anyone could have taken them, so if you're not ready to let a home run hitter in who might have taken them, then don't let anyone in.

OK, come clean STL FANATC. You are Mark McGwire, aren't you?

[Epiphanic]

While McGwire never tested positive, it's no secret he took andro (a steroid). So it's not some blind guess that he did. That being said, I think the question of whether McGwire should be in revolves around what the Hall of Fame should be.

Should the Hall of Fame be a place reserved for the best players that exemplified the best of the game? Or should it be a place for players that left their indelible mark on the game (both good and bad)?

[OnWis97]

Why I hate idiot sportswriters:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base...e.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. will fall short of becoming the first unanimous Hall of Fame picks, and Mark McGwire doesn't figure to be anywhere close to the necessary 75 percent when 2007 voting is released Tuesday.

Paul Ladewski of the Daily Southtown in suburban Chicago wrote in a column Monday that he submitted a blank ballot because of doubts he had over performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

"At this point, I don't have nearly enough information to make a value judgment of this magnitude. In particular, that concerns any player in the Steroids Era, which I consider to be the 1993-2004 period, give or a take a season," Ladewski wrote.

"This isn't to suggest that Gwynn or Ripken or the majority of the other eligible candidates padded his statistics with performance-enhancers and cheated the game, their predecessors and the fans in the process. ... But tell me, except for the players themselves, who can say what they put into their bodies over the years with any degree of certainty?"

Why punish Gwynn and Ripken because of McGwire's stupidity? Give me a freaking break.

Blaming that on McGwire? That's stupid. McGwire isn't even proven to have taken steriods and you're blaming the entire era on him?

And don't for a second tell me it's not legitimate to wonder if Ripken took steroids. Steroids help the body recover, and Ripken's body recovered game after game after game...

I certainly don't think Ripken took them. More than likely the steroids long term effect of breaking the body down would have set in on Ripken before his streak would have reached what it did.

But he could have taken them.

Remember, steroids aren't about size and power. The majority of players who have tested positive for steroids haven't had those traits.

And McGwire was considered just as classy and just as much of a good guy as Ripken until this steroid witch hunt condemned him.

I think it stupid keeping anyone out over simple suspiscion, but I at least respect the fact that this writer is willing to be consistant.

Anyone could have taken them, so if you're not ready to let a home run hitter in who might have taken them, then don't let anyone in.

Exactly. Just because the public (and the US government) only cares about steroids because of homers does not mean that it is therefore OK if you happen to be a pitcher.

[Epiphanic]

People don't care that Shawn Merriman did steroids. They don't care that Juan Rincon, Matt Lawton and almost any other non-HR guy did either. They only care about it in the context of home runs. Nevertheless, if I were going to vote against someone for "suspected steroids" I could not just go after the big HR hitters. I'd really have to go after everyone who peaked between the mid 1980s and a few years ago. McGwire, Bonds, Sosa? Sure, but only if you include Maddox, Rivera and Ripken.

People don't really care that Merriman did steroids because he's a football player. The steroid issue revolves around statistics. In football stats really don't mean anything. Statistics in baseball is part of the essense of baseball. As far as not going after Rincon and Lawton, they aren't setting any records. When they retire, will they be remembered 50 years later? Probably not. McGwire set records with his homeruns, he was bigger than the game, he will be remembed. That's why it matters. It doesn't make the Rincons and Lawtons of the league any better, it's just the price of fame and celebrity.

[BaltimoreFan]

Why punish Gwynn and Ripken because of McGwire's stupidity? Give me a freaking break.

I agree, unlike most people from Baltimore I really didn't think Cal Ripken deserved a unanimous selection. No one ever has, not even the elite players. I don't really consider Ripken to be an elite player. As corny as it sounds to for a sportswriter to say they didn't vote for someone because nobody has been unanimous, I'd be perfectly fine with someone doing that. But that guy is just stupid, there is no reasons to think that either Gwynn or Ripken took steriods (I know there is no proof McGwire took them, but there was suspiscion so I think thats enough to at least keep him out for a couple ballots). If your not voting for anyone because of the steriod era, just don't vote (I heard someone else did this). That sends about the same message and doesn't punish those who are clean. But I think this sportswriter just did this to get some publicity. For this reason think they should get someone other than sportswriters to vote.

Also, I heard the writer was from Chicago, so I wonder if he voted for Ryne Sandberg a couple of years ago. He also played in the "Steriod Era" that this guy doesn't want to elect anyone from.

[Epiphanic]

The inductees were just announced.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

This is a funnier graphic:

Two arrows means McGwire's really not getting in.

[jkrdevil]

The Official results:

2007 BBWAA Hall of Fame Voting Results

Candidate

Player Votes % of Votes

Cal Ripken Jr. 537 98.5

Tony Gwynn 532 97.6

Rich Gossage 388 71.2

Jim Rice 346 63.5

Andre Dawson 309 56.7

Bert Blyleven 260 47.7

Lee Smith 217 39.8

Jack Morris 202 37.1

Mark McGwire 128 23.5

Tommy John 125 22.9

*Steve Garvey 115 21.1

Dave Concepcion 74 13.6

Alan Trammell 73 13.4

Dave Parker 62 11.4

Don Mattingly 54 9.9

Dale Murphy 50 9.2

Harold Baines 29 5.3

Orel Hershiser 24 4.4

Albert Belle 19 3.5

Paul O'Neill 12 2.2

Bret Saberhagen 7 1.3

Jose Canseco 6 1.1

Tony Fernandez 4 0.7

Dante Bichette 3 0.6

Eric Davis 3 0.6

Bobby Bonilla 2 0.4

Ken Caminiti 2 0.4

Jay Buhner 1 0.2

Scott Brosius 0 0.0

Wally Joyner 0 0.0

Devon White 0 0.0

Bobby Witt 0 0.0

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/200...ion/results.htm

[Epiphanic]

Go Jay Buhner!

[NJTank]

McGwire should be happy hes not going in the Hall of Fame, he does not want to talk about the past, and no he dose not have too.

[OnWis97]

People don't care that Shawn Merriman did steroids. They don't care that Juan Rincon, Matt Lawton and almost any other non-HR guy did either. They only care about it in the context of home runs. Nevertheless, if I were going to vote against someone for "suspected steroids" I could not just go after the big HR hitters. I'd really have to go after everyone who peaked between the mid 1980s and a few years ago. McGwire, Bonds, Sosa? Sure, but only if you include Maddox, Rivera and Ripken.

People don't really care that Merriman did steroids because he's a football player. The steroid issue revolves around statistics. In football stats really don't mean anything. Statistics in baseball is part of the essense of baseball. As far as not going after Rincon and Lawton, they aren't setting any records. When they retire, will they be remembered 50 years later? Probably not. McGwire set records with his homeruns, he was bigger than the game, he will be remembed. That's why it matters. It doesn't make the Rincons and Lawtons of the league any better, it's just the price of fame and celebrity.

I know all of this, but "cheating" is "cheating" regardless of whether or not key records are broken. If "suspician" should keep home run hitters out of the Hall, than it shoudl do the same for Pitchers (Clemens, etc.) and others. Not just guys who pass Ruthian HR numbers.

[winghaz]

There's no question as to which caps will be featured on the Ripken and Gwynn Hall of Fame plaques.

But I'd like to know who didn't vote for these guys, especially Ripken. Whoever didn't vote for Ripken should be banned from Hall of Fame voting.

And I wish Blyleven would have gotten in. He may have to wait for the Veterans Committee.

[Swiss]

I'm happy for two marvelous guys like Ripken Jr. and the great, greater, greatest Padre ever, Gwynn...

Boy, they deserved too much being in the HOF. Someday when I'll go to Cooperstown, I'll take some shots to their plaques.

About McGwire, I wouldn't vote him... but it's better that his induction stuff has been postponed some years... today he is too controversial and let's not tarnish the nice moment for Ripken Jr. and Gwynn... and maybe the 2008 and 2009 inductees.

[CC97]

1% for Canseco?

[KevinMcD]

Ripken's Induction obviously did not suprise me today but i am so happy today. Two great guys get the stage to themselvs in Cooperstown in July. Hopefully I can convince my dad (a huge Ripken fan) to brave the crowds and take a trip to Cooperstown on July 29th. I only saw him live once in Toronto in 2001 (His last game in the SkyDome) but I can appreciate his and Gwynn's greatness.

Lastly I love how Ripken and Gwynn stayed with the same team from their draft. They have no hissy fits (I want more $$$$ or a better team) like some current players (A-rod, Tejada, Man-Ram) This is the ONLY reason I respect Jeter. He has stuck with the Evil Empire and has not whined about it.

They both deserve it and hopefully have a great time in Cooperstown immortlity.

[marlinfan]

Two of the more 'professional' guys of the last 25 years. I remember going to the last game Cal played at Dolphin Stadium. I wish more players of us caliber would retire like he did.

BTW, Jeter can't whine about being on the Evil Empire because they have a bajillion dollar payroll and have made the playoffs every year he's been a Yankee.

[jkrdevil]

McGwire will get in one of those years where there really isn't any other player worthy and the voters still want to have the annual ceremony/party.

[CaolinaJoe]

He has stuck with the Evil Empire and has not whined about it.

Umm, he makes like $19 million a year and they are always in playoff/World Series contention.

[KevinMcD]

He has stuck with the Evil Empire and has not whined about it.

Umm, he makes like $19 million a year and they are always in playoff/World Series contention.

But they havn't won it all in 7 years, and he has to deal with Torre, SteinBrunner, A-Rod, and the NY media. If I was a MLB player I would not want to have to deal with that scrutiny, and NY media attention. He has alot to deal with and that is why I respect him, (Orioles fan kicking in) but I think he is very overrated, probably the most overrated player in the history of baseball.