Philadelphia Daily News columnist, Bill Conlin had an article on his Hall of Fame ballot which contains this mind-bender of a paragraph (well actually two):
"I voted for Tim Raines his first year of eligibility. But when he failed to get 25 percent of the vote, he was moved to the back burner. Sorry, that's just the way it has to be. Maybe more eligible ballwriters should have measured the Rock's career numbers in all phases against those of analog basestealer and first-ballot inductee Lou Brock. Try it, you'll be amazed.
Good news for Raines, however. Yesterday, in one of the most bizarre elections* in a bizarre process, he collected 30 percent and is now back on my radar."
Nope, you don't have to reread it.
He stopped voting for Raines because nobody else did!
Raines got worse while sitting at home and then while still at home, he got better!
Where are the rotten tomatoes?
(Look, I know that you can't take away their voting privilege once they get it but does anybody maybe know anything interesting about Conlin? Can the police pick him up or something?)
*Well he is right on this. Bert Blyleven received only 14.1% of the vote in 1999 but 74.2% of the vote this year. He sure had a good decade; the best of his career in fact!
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9 comments:
Dude-you have to read this. Conlin wasn't the only one who screwed the pooch this year. http://deadspin.com/5443162/presenting-the-absolute-worst-hall-of-fame-voter
Ryan,
Thanks.
The "I don't vote for anybody but Babe Ruth" on the first ballot is dumb. Either they are good enough to be there or not. Mariotti then compounds the problem by saying that he doesn't vote for guys that have been around for a while because they have been on too long so he doesn't vote for them early or late.
I know that Deadspin probably rotates their banners but that "Gawker Artists" side banner is......well I am still thinking of a word but I think you can make babies that way.
Kevin
Conlin's an idiot. When ESPN had its old Sports Reporters show (maybe they still do -- I barely watch ESPN anymore), he was a regular panelist and I hated almost everything that came out of his mouth.
He's been in Philly for almost centuries, so maybe he's a god there or something, because I can't figure out why they still let him write.
Mariotti is a moron, too. Woody Paige is the biggest idiot of them all. I get so embarrassed when people bring this stuff up because I'm in the sportswriting business and there really ARE good and great sportswriters.
But because of TV, they find the idiots who say the most outrageous things and put them on display for the masses and everyone thinks sportswriters are idiots.
So, yeah, ESPN is the devil.
Night Owl,
I gotcha. Cannot disagree.
I also agreed with your "don't lump them all together" post on your site which I thought was right on.
I probably should have commented there but as I recall you got a pretty good response.
Kevin
Night owl got it right on woody pagie. Why did they put him on the show around the horn.
There only one good show on espn. It is sportsnation. It the best show on espn because they don't have any dumb people on it. I like pardon the interrupion. But they have Tony kornheiser on it.
Who is this guy. I could vote better then him.
Alex,
When I get home, I want to see your Hall of Fame ballot.
Dad
There are so many unqualified people with the vote that I've given up screaming about it. We have people who not only know hardly a thing about baseball and statistics, but also have very little common sense.
They can't even create clever reasons for their ignorant stances.
Throw in the fact so many of them use their vote as a power trip and it's no wonder great players are often left out of the HOF for years on end.
Believe me, these writers LOVE the attention. They LOVE being quoted about why they did or didn't vote for a player.
I guess the only thing left to say is it's always been this way. Many amazing players needed several tries to get elected. Eventually most of the players that should get in, do get in.
But the nonsense and reasoning behind it all cause me such feelings of anger.
I find the current system a slap in the face to baseball.
The only bright side to this is it is better to have too few players elected rather than too many elected (as the Veteran's Committee did for decades).
Like a lot of terrible traditions, this one will continue. The mantra "It's always been this way" is in full force.
FOC,
It is hard to add to that other than to say I share the frustration.
While I have opinions on just about all the players, the Tim Raines snub does pain me. I think if these guys would open their minds and at least just take a look at his numbers, that they might see him in a different light other than "he does not feel like a Hall of Famer". Instead some may ignore him until they see his numbers go up every year and if it gets above 50%, they might then look at him seriously. THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK! Look at him now. He is up for election right now.
Maybe look at it this way. Think of your occupation or the business you are involved in or know something about. There are probably some things that you know that would shock or surprise the general public if they found out (or even cared enough to look).
It is the same thing with sportswriters. Some of them are rubes but unlike some other occupations, they like to air their dirty laundry for all to see; instead of hiding their deficiencies. In most businesses, that is bad thing and can get you fired but here it seeme like some are rewarded for it and even get "tenure" for it.
For what it is worth, I am somewhat comforted by the fact that most of the sportswriters that I have read on this Hall of Fame voting subject seemed to have made defensible choices.
The "acting out" by the Conlin and Mariotti types is frustrating, no doubt.
Kevin
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