Rivera first unanimous Hall of Famer

Justacommeman

Mussina and Hallady also selected. Not sure about Edgar Martinez

• Edgar Martinez was elected

m

Dave99B

100%....wow. Unbelievable.

All deserved to be in the HOF, and now they are.

Dave

3stars

Can Jeter pull it off next year?

Justacommeman

Edgar Martinez was elected as well

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erikthredd

@Justacommeman said:
Edgar Martinez was elected as well

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David Ortiz is somewhere celebrating right now.

Justacommeman

Bonds, Clemens and Schilling all ended up between 59% and 61%. All have obvious baggage but they are in range.

Schilling moved up 10 points this year. That’s a big move. Hopefully he can keep his mouth shut for a year or two. I’d like to see him in

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Tomi

@Dave99B said:
100%....wow. Unbelievable.

All deserved to be in the HOF, and now they are.

Dave

Not bad for a failed starter. Can't believe that he is the first player ever at 100% with the talent that went in before him.

3stars

Also helps that Rivera was humble, polite, classy and respected the baseball writers jobs. Imagine how many more votes someone like Bonds or Clemens would get if they didn't treat the writers like garbage.

Justacommeman

I think Lee Smith getting in helped Rivera getting 100% of the vote.

Also after the first 50% of ballots showed him at 100% no one wanted to be that guy who didn’t vote for him.

For sure Morris getting in helped Moose and Doc.

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grote15

@Justacommeman said:
I think Lee Smith getting in helped Rivera getting 100% of the vote.

Also after the first 50% of ballots showed him at 100% no one wanted to be that guy who didn’t vote for him.

For sure Morris getting in helped Moose and Doc.

m

Absolutely. This is the fallout from letting weaker players in...not saying that any of the HOFers elected today are not deserving but the bar gets lower every time you enshrine a Jack Morris or Harold Baines till the line between great and very good is effectively blurred.

DIMEMAN

@Justacommeman said:
Bonds, Clemens and Schilling all ended up between 59% and 61%. All have obvious baggage but they are in range.

Schilling moved up 10 points this year. That’s a big move. Hopefully he can keep his mouth shut for a year or two. I’d like to see him in

m

Clemens and Schilling yes......Bonds....NEVER!!!

dallasactuary

@Justacommeman said:
I think Lee Smith getting in helped Rivera getting 100% of the vote.

Also after the first 50% of ballots showed him at 100% no one wanted to be that guy who didn’t vote for him.

For sure Morris getting in helped Moose and Doc.

Agree on Lee Smith and Rivera, because it's just silly that Rivera got 100% when nobody else ever has.

On Moose and Doc, not saying you're wrong or right, but they were so much better than Morris that they deserved enshrinement whatever happened to Mr. Mediocre. I'd like to think that the HOF voters knew that, but I'm probably wrong.

Martinez is the weakest link in this year's class, but he deserved it. If memory serves, he was actually a pretty good third baseman before he got relegated to a DH role, so on his own merits, as opposed to his manager's decisions, he was a better player than his hitting stats alone would indicate. And just so there's no confusion, his hitting is HOF-worthy for anyone playing competent defense, but with close to zero defensive value his total contribution to his teams is in the Will Clark range, not the Willie McCovey range. But, as I said, that's not really his fault.

Justacommeman

@dallasactuary said:

@Justacommeman said:
I think Lee Smith getting in helped Rivera getting 100% of the vote.

Also after the first 50% of ballots showed him at 100% no one wanted to be that guy who didn’t vote for him.

For sure Morris getting in helped Moose and Doc.

Agree on Lee Smith and Rivera, because it's just silly that Rivera got 100% when nobody else ever has.

On Moose and Doc, not saying you're wrong or right, but they were so much better than Morris that they deserved enshrinement whatever happened to Mr. Mediocre. I'd like to think that the HOF voters knew that, but I'm probably wrong.

I agree. They did deserve it on their own merits but Morris IMHO sealed the deal.

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bronco2078

nobody should get in unless they are unanimous , too many friggin nobodies in the hall

the reason its unusual is that the bbwa is a bunch of idiots and they have too many votes and too many people to vote for . 3 votes 10 guys on the list 5 years without getting in and you are done

keets

though I believe the MLB HOF is pretty watered down lately I think this is a very deserving honor. also, it probably opens the door for others to be unanimously inducted.

bronco2078

somebody post the list of all the choices these nimrods could vote on this year , I haven't seen it but I'm sure its embarrassing

dallasactuary

@bronco2078 said:
nobody should get in unless they are unanimous , too many friggin nobodies in the hall

the reason its unusual is that the bbwa is a bunch of idiots and they have too many votes and too many people to vote for . 3 votes 10 guys on the list 5 years without getting in and you are done

The problem with your first proposal is, as we just saw, that we'd have a HOF with nobody in it but a single relief pitcher. The problem, in other words, isn't so much the system, it's that the system relies on idiots. You can't fix stupid.

Your second proposal I can work with, but I'd like to change the initial year of eligibility from five years after retirement to 20 years or something even longer. History does a much better job of evaluating greatness than the collective idiocy of sportswriters who saw the players play and probably even know some of them personally. The system would still depend on idiots, but it would at least be an independent set of idiots with more context and hindsight to guide them.

bronco2078

@dallasactuary said:

@bronco2078 said:
nobody should get in unless they are unanimous , too many friggin nobodies in the hall

the reason its unusual is that the bbwa is a bunch of idiots and they have too many votes and too many people to vote for . 3 votes 10 guys on the list 5 years without getting in and you are done

The problem with your first proposal is, as we just saw, that we'd have a HOF with nobody in it but a single relief pitcher. The problem, in other words, isn't so much the system, it's that the system relies on idiots. You can't fix stupid.

Your second proposal I can work with, but I'd like to change the initial year of eligibility from five years after retirement to 20 years or something even longer. History does a much better job of evaluating greatness than the collective idiocy of sportswriters who saw the players play and probably even know some of them personally. The system would still depend on idiots, but it would at least be an independent set of idiots with more context and hindsight to guide them.

Well I mean over the years they have always had too many votes and choices so it was hard to get to 100% . If you only have 3 votes you are going to get it right , especially if there are not 2227 choices on the list and big names are going to fall off in 5 years.

Even idiots will figure out that you can't squander your 3 votes on nobodies or the somebodies will never get in.

I think 10 unique choices in a year might be too many. I also think some years no one deserves to get in at all.

JRR300

Edgar Martinez was Hall worthy; it's just a shame that he had to wait as long as he did. His hitting numbers are exceptional and he was very clutch as well. I believe that if he had played in New York, Boston or LA, he would have been elected much earlier, if not first ballot. No TV exposure in Seattle, not many playoff appearances and he began his career later, so his cumulative stats suffer. The fact that his manager chose to have him DH because he was too valuable a hitter to chance being hurt in the field should not and can not be held against him.

As far as Rivera getting in unanimously, I say it's about time the old thinking has changed. Before there were voters who believed that no player deserved to get elected unanimously, so they would purposely leave deserving players off their ballots, knowing they were good enough to be elected but keep it so there were no unanimous selections. Hopefully, this idea of just voting on worthiness alone will continue going forward.

bronco2078

@JRR300 said:

As far as Rivera getting in unanimously, I say it's about time the old thinking has changed. Before there were voters who believed that no player deserved to get elected unanimously, so they would purposely leave deserving players off their ballots, knowing they were good enough to be elected but keep it so there were no unanimous selections. Hopefully, this idea of just voting on worthiness alone will continue going forward.

These are the morons I was ranting about . Leave that guy off he is too good. Get out , you aren't allowed to vote anymore mr BBWA . WTF is this BBWA thing in 2019 anyway? No one reads anything these idiots write , no one buys newspapers . People click webpages for info , no one who writes on a webpage can be trusted to vote either as obviously they are idiots too.

Coaches vote or owners or players or something no more writers . Maybe you only get one vote , make it count.

Coinstartled

@bronco2078 said:
nobody should get in unless they are unanimous , too many friggin nobodies in the hall

the reason its unusual is that the bbwa is a bunch of idiots and they have too many votes and too many people to vote for . 3 votes 10 guys on the list 5 years without getting in and you are done

Don't necessarily agree, but the passion is refreshing.

orioles93

Happy to see Moose go in. Hope he wears an Orioles hat on the plaque.
I would like to see Walker and Kent get more votes next year.
I think McGriff and Dale Murphy are the next ones to go in by the veterans committee at some point.

perkdog

All well deserving

SDSportsFan

@bronco2078 said:
somebody post the list of all the choices these nimrods could vote on this year , I haven't seen it but I'm sure its embarrassing

Two writers voted for Placido Polanco!

Steve

JoeBanzai

As a fan who grew up watching baseball before the "closer" was like it is today, it seems wrong a closer is the first one to go in unanimous.

That being said he is certainly deserving of induction.

Estil

Wow, Mariano did something not even Ruth, Mays, Ryan, Ripken, etc could do!

SDSportsFan

@Estil said:
Wow, Mariano did something not even Ruth, Mays, Ryan, Ripken, etc could do!

Thing is, it had nothing to do with Ruth, Mays, Ryan, Ripken, Aaron, etc......., and everything to do with idiotic/stupid/ childish/vindictive/(insert other adjective) voters.

It was also a result of the voting process itself, and the backlog of players on the ballot (which is now finally being broken through). Voters have had to prioritize their votes to ensure certain players remained on the ballot long enough to generate enough momentum to get them to the 75% threshold.

Steve

ernie11

Congrats on Moose, I have an autographed bb card from when he was with the Hagerstown Suns.

softparade

Mo!

bronco2078

https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2019.shtml

look at the bums on this list , Kevin Youklis ? Seriously how does his name get on that list?

craig44

@3stars said:
Also helps that Rivera was humble, polite, classy and respected the baseball writers jobs. Imagine how many more votes someone like Bonds or Clemens would get if they didn't treat the writers like garbage.

this illustrates the problems with how the MLBHOF elects players. It should never come down to your popularity with writers. that goes for other seemingly surley players as well like Dick Allen. election should also not be based on your popularity/friendship with members of the various veterans committees. cough cough, harold baines

craig44

@JoeBanzai said:
As a fan who grew up watching baseball before the "closer" was like it is today, it seems wrong a closer is the first one to go in unanimous.

That being said he is certainly deserving of induction.

this is 100% correct.

orioles93

@craig44 said:

@3stars said:
Also helps that Rivera was humble, polite, classy and respected the baseball writers jobs. Imagine how many more votes someone like Bonds or Clemens would get if they didn't treat the writers like garbage.

this illustrates the problems with how the MLBHOF elects players. It should never come down to your popularity with writers. that goes for other seemingly surley players as well like Dick Allen. election should also not be based on your popularity/friendship with members of the various veterans committees. cough cough, harold baines

I think this is hurting Jeff Kent as well. If I remember correctly, he was never the most popular with the press.

BLUEJAYWAY

It would be interesting to hear HONEST opinions by current HOF members about the 100% vote. Pro or con.

JRR300

Is it possible that the old holdouts for the "nobody deserves to be unanimously elected" are no longer voting and don't get a ballot anymore????