Reason #15,654 To Take The Hall Vote Away From The BBWAA

Hall of a day diary.

Why does it seem the biggest ass clown writers are right here in our city?

He voted for Gossage last year but not now. This is the same dumbass logic as to why Dawson percentage went down last year then up this year. So I look at that as, HEY HAWK, you had a hell of a 2007 season!

If they can't figure out what to do, then they SHALL LOSE THEIR PRIVLEDGE TO VOTE.

Hey, how did you get 15,564?

...and makes me feel bad not only for the guys trying to get into the hall that didn't take roids (HAWK?!), it makes me feel bad for the guys that SHOULD be voters (i.g. Rob Neyer) but since they do not work for a physical "newspaper", cannot vote.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Dan

Two words - Minnie Miñoso

Hey, the guy's played professional baseball in seven decades (1940s-2000s) so he's probably played with, against or at least seen everyone on the ballot.  Set him up with his favorite drinks in a bar (he seems to frequent Sluggers here in Wrigleyville), bring the TV cameras in, read through the names and wait for a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Ok, so I kid.  Or not.  Don't think he could do much worse than the likes of Telander and Co.

Telander didn't accuse Dawson of taking PED's.  He is demonstrating the profound impact this subject has had on many baseball fans by pointing to an "unthinkable" example -- and saying he is not even one-hundred percent sure of even that any more.

There is a loooong ways from "accusing Dawson" to not betting his life.

Actually, he ends up saying that of all baseball players ever, Dawson is the last one you would suspect!

 or has the Tribune baseball team just become absolutely embarrassing? I mean, how the taint of the Steroid Era can keep you from even considering voting on a ballot in which the VAST majority of nominees were pre Steroid-Era players is comical. Especially when as an admitted fan, you know that Gossage needed your vote, as this may have been his best chance to get in.

  Rick, I think it's much more likely that you saw a chance to do this, and get an easy puff article out of it, rather than having to actually go and research a topic. My personal take? Miss two ballots in a decade, and your voting rights are suspended.

The thing that bothers me about HOF voters is that they act like they have some holy duty, overplaying the importance of their own role almost just to remind us that they have it.  

It's the Hall of Fame, not the papacy.  You're voting on people who played a game, and did it well enough to be remembered for it.  Telander hasn't just appointed himself judge and jury, he's decided that he must do so psychically, because it would apparently be so damaging to the institution to allow even one PED user in on accident and without evidence that it's better just to keep everyone out.

Congrats Rick.  I truly do hope that every other writer follows suit so that your role in HOF voting is reduced to what it should be - none.

as a reply to another user's comment in another thread. Since it may get lost there, I will repost. Apologies in advance for those who are reading this again.

There are more than 575 voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. 543 ballots were cast including 3 ballots which supported no candidates.

A total of 2,907 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.35 per ballot.

That leaves at least 32 ballots that were NOT received by the December 31 deadline. Include the 3 submitted blank ballots, that's at least 35 "no votes."

Rick Telander has a right not to cast a ballot. His point is that there MAY be players on the ballot that "roided up" or used HGH. He doesn't know, so he didn't vote.

Shame on you, Mr. Telander. Voting is a privilege. You were asked to judge what these players did on the field. You chose not to cast a ballot because you don't know whether or not players like Rice, Dawson, Smith, John, maybe even Bert Blyleven used PEDs?

You said you would "bet [your] life Hawk didn't," but you didn't cast a ballot because "swollen Mark McGwire soils the ballot."

Rice, Dawson, and Blyleven would not have received enough votes even if every one of the 32 non-participating ballots named all three on their ballots. Rice would have fallen 8 votes short (575 ballots requires 432 votes; Rice would have had 424). And this assumes exactly 575 were distributed when it is published that OVER 575 ballots were distributed.

Your vote, and the vote of those that did not send theirs in, could have made a difference under different circumstances.

I don't ground my 17-year-old daughter every weekend because she MAY be going to keg parties or because her under-aged friends drink. I know she's been to parties, but she comes home sober. I trust her to make wise choices.

Let's trust that Rice, Dawson, Blyleven, Smith, John, and many others on the ballot are deserving without the aid of PEDs.

Why does Telander still even have a ballot? He's a columnist who covers many sports in addition to baseball. How many games does he attend? Wasn't that the criterion given when certain ESPN.com writers were refused a BBWAA card?

The BBWAA is led by cretins.

... that this kind of thing or other negative voting patterns wouldn't happen if you came up with a new voting system is completely foolish.

DmL

If anyone gets a chance, click on over to www.670thescore.com and listen to Mike North's interview with Andre Dawson from this morning.  Kudos to North for going after Telander, and letting Hawk know what he wrote in his column.  Andre, a true gentleman's gentleman, got very pissed....you can hear the anger in his voice and I don't blame him.  According to North, their producers were going to help Hawk get some phone numbers so he can get in touch with Telander.  Best line of the interview was when Hawk said, "I want to tell him that I'll be at the Cubs Convention, and I want to meet him face to face."  Something tells me that Rick, to use a Bill O'Reilly line, will be "hiding under his desk."  

He came damn close this year...

Dan

is now posted on the Score's website. I listened to him, and read the column and kind of understand what Telander meant. He didn't say Andre took PED's but that some athletes that have vehemently denied taking them have lied so whom do you believe?

Do you know what I'm weary of, pretentious sportswriters on their high horses.  They are dissapointed with the use of "performance enhancing drugs".  They say that this is tainting all of the records of previous generations of baseball players.  How can you compare thse generations.  Training methods are different, medical treatments is different (where would many pitchers be without Tommy John Surgery), certainly the money is different and that definitely alters the way some of these atheltes perform.  I say inflated salaries are perfomance enhancing.  Let's ban high salaries!

Maybe the players of the 60s and 70s didn't use HGH but many were popping pills to get them up after they spent all night on the town.  I assume this effected their performance.  And right or wrong MLB did not ban some of the drugs in question.  If they did not break any rules how can you punish them?  

Do I think there should be a ban on steroids and HGH?  I'm not sure.  But if there is a ban then there should be a strong testing policy including blood tests if need be.  You want to play (and make millions), then take the tests don't hide behind the union.  

I'm dissappointed in Telander, he sould turn in his BBWAA card.

also went out of his way to call Andre "dumb" at least twice, at one point referring to him as "a dummy".  He could have taken the high road and pointed out that he didn't actually accuse Andre of using PED's, (which, if you read the column, he didn't) but instead of merely pointing that out, he uses the typical ammo of the elite media: personally attack anyone who questions you in any way.  How irresponsible.  

Man, I am done with baseball radio and writing this week.  I am choking to death on the excess sanctimony that's floating around.  Rick Telander is a frigging idiot, and if there was a baseball god, he'd revoke his voting privileges forever.  

You'd think that writers like Telander and his ilk had never so much as jaywalked in their lives based on the moral high ground they like to take.  

Is it just me, or has this been the longest offseason ever?

I never liked this clown.  Actually that's unfair.  TO CLOWNS!

I so wanted to call him and ask when he kept going on and on about Dawson not calling players out publicly and ask if he blasted Jason Blair and why didn't he speak out about it and about reporters covering up for each other.

If I had a choice of Telander or Mariotti to go I have to go with Telander.  Mariotti hits a homerun once in awhile.  

I want to know how we really know players of other generations weren't using some kind of advantageous drugs or such?

And did Rick Telander vote for the cheaters like Gaylord Perry and his help of vaseline?