Gordon: Twitterverse decries Biggio exclusion Live
Greg Maddux is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. So is his longtime Atlanta Braves cohort Tom Glavine.
Frank Thomas also made the cut, but poor Craig Biggio -- one of the all-time great Cardinal killers -- missed election by just two votes.
Perennial also-ran Jack Morris fell short for the final time, making this native Detroiter sad. That guy was a monster on the mound in big games, although there is no way to quantify presence with statistical formulas.
The latest balloting of the Baseball Writers Association of America triggered lots of hand-wringing and spleen venting. There are many problems with the Hall of Fame voting process, including:
Anyway, here is how the Twitterverse responded to today's news:
Frank Thomas also made the cut, but poor Craig Biggio -- one of the all-time great Cardinal killers -- missed election by just two votes.
Perennial also-ran Jack Morris fell short for the final time, making this native Detroiter sad. That guy was a monster on the mound in big games, although there is no way to quantify presence with statistical formulas.
The latest balloting of the Baseball Writers Association of America triggered lots of hand-wringing and spleen venting. There are many problems with the Hall of Fame voting process, including:
- The panel of baseball writers is much too large, including voters have been gone from the press box for a long time -- and too many who never really reported on the sport with any depth or frequency.
- Voting rationale is all over the map. Some voters think too hard, others don't think hard enough. Some use their vote to further an agenda. Some use it to draw attention to themselves. Some are slaves to sabermetrics, others rely on only the simplest statistics to make their cause. Some vote for players they liked personally. Some shun those who were mean to them.
- Some voters complain they get to select just 10 names. Others refused to vote for 10 players, preferring to honor only a select few.
- Voters are all over the map over steroid abuse, which is just one of the many ways players have used chemistry to enhance their performance. That process began decades before Mark McGwire went all Paul Bunyan on us and it continues today. (Old school example: How did Denny McLain win 31 games in one season? Chemistry.)
- Those voters who insist on banning steroid cheats from the Hall can only guess which players juiced and how much they juiced. Dabblers are lumped in with heavy users. Innocent are lumped with the guilty. And many players voters believe to be clean were, in fact, juicers too. They just didn't get caught or implicated.
Anyway, here is how the Twitterverse responded to today's news:
1 more tradition: Today's the day when everyone flips out b/c the most broken place in sports, the Baseball Hall of Fame, re-breaks itself.
Jan. 8, 2014
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There's a good-sized group of voters who won't pick more than 4-5 players even if Cobb, Mays, Ruth, and Aaron get added. That hurts a lot.
Jan. 8, 2014
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VERY happy Frank Thomas got it, but the place might as well be shut down if Barry Bonds isn't in. Yes, I'm serious.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds both dipped this year. It is going to be a long, long road to get them into the Hall of Fame.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Rafael Palmeiro, a member of the 3000-hit and 500-home run clubs, off the ballot. But he did get that sweet Viagra ad money, so he’s cool.
Jan. 8, 2014
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If PEDs never existed, Barry Bonds would be in the Hall of Fame and Tony LaRussa wouldn't.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Oh God, I hope the idiots who didn't vote for Biggio are proud of themselves.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Armando Benitez got a vote! I hope we find out that ballot didn't have Biggio.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Can we take the two votes given to J.T. Snow and give them to Biggio please? God.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Craig Biggio not making the Hall this year means another ridiculously stuffed ballot next year, with Big Unit, Pedro and Smoltz joining on.
Jan. 8, 2014
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Morris losing out means no pitcher who spent entire career facing a DH has been inducted.
Jan. 8, 2014
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More messed up: 16 people not voting for Greg Maddux or one person voting for Jacque Jones?
Jan. 8, 2014
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Surprised Jacque Jones only got one HOF vote. Mental health statistics suggest a higher percentage of voters would be insane.
Jan. 8, 2014
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