What characterizes a Hall of Famer? Is it consistent greatness despite being on a losing team? Is it moment of greatness in the postseason sprinkled into a very good career? This very question is so vague and open ended, as well as subjective it's practically impossible to answer. When you're asking baseball people and baseball fans that question, they usually respond with the oft-used I-don't-have-to-think-about-it phrase. That means if a name is brought up, that player is either defined as a Hall of Fame type player or not. Pretty black and white. But it's hardly that easy in the realities of the MLB Hall of Fame process.
Much of how the Hall of Fame process works is muddled with details and secrecy with regards to who actually gets to vote in terms of the "qualified voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Whomever gets to place a vote each year, a player is inducted if he garners at least 75% of all accumulated ballots. Each voting cycle, the BBWA gets to submit at least 10 players who can be on the ballot for consideration. A player can stay on the list for up to 15 years for induction and then is removed or is removed if he fails to get fewer than 5% of total votes.
Every year since 1936 a HoF vote has been done for the MLB and in 2012 Barry Larkin was inducted into the Hall getting over 85% of votes for his induction. My question has always been do certain voters have to check themselves each year by allowing only a certain amount of players in the Hall of Fame even if they have been on the ballot in the past? To me if you are a Hall of Fame player then why can't these players simply be inducted in their first go round on the ballot? What's the point of keeping a retired legend on there as if there is a rule against inducting more than one or two worthy names. I will use Larkin as a mere example, but he is easily not the best one to use for the sake of argument.
Still, in 2010, Larkin's first year on the ballot, the voters gave him 51%. Andrew Dawson was the only player inducted that year. In 2011 Larkin received 62% as Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were inducted. By year three on the ballot Larkin got 86% to be enshrined in his third year on the ballot. I don't really understand how Barry Larkin became more eligible one year after the other when he was retired other than the fact the HoF makes certain players wait to be inducted. There seems to be some type of unwritten code that the voting committee has which wants to limit the amount of inductions each year to toy with the media and nominees' minds.
I say that tongue and cheek, but in the first year of inductions in 1936, the HoF put in five of the game's greatest to ever play. Ty Cobb received the most votes of the five at 98% along with Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. That was the only time the Hall made five players eligible and inducted in the same year. There's also this fact of revelation I found looking at just the 1936 ballot. There were 50 names on the ballot including the five men inducted. 45 names remained on the ballot and all but seven of them eventually were inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. If you want to make a rule no more than five players per season can be inducted make the rule. Don't play patty-cake with your votes and pretend a retired player deserves to go in one year more than another when their playing days are finished.
Doesn't that seem a little odd? The ballot had all these retired players but only inducted certain guys in the first year and the process continued each year after that. People don't want to look back that far but that is how things have always been done like it's some type of game to limit the amount of inductees each year. If that is the case then why doesn't the voting committees make a rule that says so? Instead there are retired players deserving of a place in the Hall of Fame almost every year who may have to wait up to 15 years after their first year on the ballot to become a member? It makes no sense to me and comes across as nerdy, petty, and downright childish.
Per the Hall's voting rules, a player can be voted in five years after his retirement with at least 10 years of playing experience after passing a screening committee. Barry Larkin's career was over in 2004. Again using the classy Cincinnati, Ohio native as an example, the voting committee had five years to decide whether or not he was a Hall of Fame player. So in 2008 why wasn't Barry Larkin voted in as he was in 2012? Will names like Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Dale Murphy, and Tim Raines be more Hall of Fame worthy just because they spent another year with their name on the ballot? If they aren't worthy the minute they are on the ballot as retired players then good riddance to their chances I say. But I probably would be scoffed at the notion of being simple minded by the BBWAA.
It's a question I have no answer for, but it is one the entire Hall of Fame committee should have to with regards to how its writers treat each voting year leaving deserving players on the ballot to wait more years which is wildly unnecessary.
So the reports out of the New York Giants camp are Eli Manning went home from practice the other day with an upset stomach. Poor guy but he isn't the only high profile athlete suffering from a bout of winter colds and bugs.
Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James have been battling flu symptoms this entire week but have been able to compete and play at a high level. LeBron James' 31 point effort Thursday night against the Los Angeles certainly didn't look like he was troubled by a fever, an aching body, or a sore throat. He poured in 33 against San Antonio two days ago and is again in the running for another MVP award this season.
Dirk Nowitzki is not only playing with a flu bug, but also weak knees which he says he hopes to regain strength in by building his base back up. Interesting to note in the NBA where it doesn't always look like the pros are elevating on their shots because they are so freakishly tall, Nowitzki readily admits to needing his legs to elevate on his shot. The future Hall of Famer has been off to a slow start but that is really to be expected after he poured his heart and soul into last season's championship run and the lack of a training camp. Remember despite the time off, the Mavericks lost two major role players in DeShawn Stevenson and Tyson Chandler. Adding guys like Vince Carter, Lamar Odom, and getting Rodrigue Beaubois back from his native Guadeloupe (a French region in the Caribbean) and a foot injury made it necessary for the defending champions to have an off season camp to gel.
That was not the case this season and early on you can see Dallas is still feeling their way around each other to see exactly what they have for this season. After two gut wrenching losses in Los Angeles to both the Lakers and Clippers this week, they righted the ship by beating the common misnomer that NBA teams always struggle on back-to-backs.
Not the case here even going into the tough Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah as Dallas pulled out a big win Thursday night. LeBron James did the same, taking his challenge to Kobe Bryant once again as Miami routed Los Angeles for most of the game with a little home cooking.
Eli Manning could use some of Mama Manning's chicken soup perhaps, but I think his competitive juices will be fine come Saturday. In football, it is considered very difficult to beat a team twice in one season. It's more than possible of course, but not only do you have the motivation angle for the team that lost, but they can also go back and make certain adjustments that cost them the last game.
Then again, if you are the 49ers why fix something that isn't broken. You've bean the Giants once at home this season already. No reason it can't be done again so they have that mental edge going for them. Not eye popping to see the spread hovering around a field goal favoring the Niners. Curious to see what the conditions will be on the field ( I am a Bay Area native) but I don't expect it to phase either team too much. The Giants just got done playing in freezing Wisconsin and the 49ers proved they can win in any scenario on the road or at home this season.
The condensed NBA schedule for the 2011-2012 season has definitely taking its toll. When you play 66 games in only 124 games, that breaks the routine most players are accustomed to in general seasons.
Not only are we seeing sprained ankles and the tear of pectoral muscles, but there are players genuinely out of shape for the season. Paul Pierce has to be the biggest name on this list of out-of-shape players. In one of the Celtics recent games last Friday night, Pierce sat out most of the fourth quarter and when he was out on the floor looked gassed after only a few trips up and down the court.
Fans don't put a lot of stock in training camp, or pre-season training in any sport for that matter, but the reality is these are crucial to preparing players for the season to come. Without a training camp to not only get familiar with new teammates and the playbook, the process of being in basketball shape is now intertwined into the regular season. So lots of players are feeling the effects of what they might have endured had they gone through a regular training camp.
Obscure injuries like torn pectorals have happened to the Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford and the Warriors' Kwame Brown. And remember, any injury that could take some time to heal may put the rest of their season to play in jeopardy. Dwyane Wade went down with a severely sprained ankle and last season's playoff hero for the Mavericks Juan Jose Barea has been limited with a sprained ankle and pulled hamstring despite signing a lucrative contract to join the Minnesota Timberwolves.
These are all things to keep an eye on as the young season progresses, especially with some of the older players as well who are in their mid 30s. It's also quite entertaining to see the names of ballots for the All-Star game when there have only been like 10 regular season games played. Pretty comical stuff but not as funny as Joel Anthony of the Miami Heat actually being eligible on the ballot.
Til next time enjoy the games!
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