Baseball Hall of Fame Voting

[usradmin]

Should Jim Rice have gotten in earlier (my vote is yes)? Should Andre Dawson be voted to the Hall? What about Bert Blyleven? Lee Smith? Jack Morris? Tommy John? Tim Raines? Mark McGwire? What about Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds (once they are eligible)? How much would steroid use (suspected or confirmed) affect your vote if you were voting?

[rrothwarf]

Jim Rice should have been elected sooner. He was the dominant A.L. slugger of his era, even though his numbers pale in comparison to those of the steroid era.

[rrothwarf]

If I were voting, I would vote for Clemens and Bonds, but not McGwire. Clemens and Bonds were superstars before they allegedly used steroids. McGwire is a marginal Hall of Famer even with use of substances.

[andymuenz]

Forgetting about the steroids guys because that's a different issue (if you let them in, wouldn't you have to let in Pete Rose who at least was clean when he played?), the two I would vote in would be Lee Smith and Jack Morris.

If memory serves, Smith was at one time the all time saves leader. For the same reason Art Monk deserved to get in to the NFL Hall of Fame much sooner, Smith should get in now. He was at one time the all time leader in the most important statistic for his position.

Jack Morris is a little bit tougher decision. However, I think he was the best starting pitcher between the Carlton/Ryan era and the Clemens/Johnson era. So, if you are going to have elect any starting pitcher who's career peaked in the '80's (and by the theory that you can't compare eras, you need to elect someone), he should be the one.
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-Andy

[bas3ballphreak]

My big surprises are that tommy john isn't in with as many wins as he has, and that these writers that turn in empty ballots year after year dont get their votes taken away. *sob* Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous so no one should be, thats ludicrous. there is no reason that for recent examples tony gwynn or rickey henderson shouldn't have been unanimous.

As far as who is getting in the only one i'm really shocked hasn't been getting close is mattingly. He was one of the most feared hitters in his era, but a victim of injuries are whats hurting him now.