Selig on 2017 Hall of Fame ballot (Latest: Selig to be inducted; post 9)

[1992casey]

Selig on Hall of Fame ballot for 2017

 

Bud's on the Today's Game Era ballot, one of four Eras committees. The committee meets twice every five years.

 

Also included on this year's ballot are John Schuerholz, George Steinbrenner, Lou Piniella, Davey Johnson, Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser and Mark McGwire. Four of the nine former commissioners (Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Happy Chandler, Ford Frick and Bowie Kuhn) are members of the Hall.

 

To be inducted, a candidate needs to receive 75% of the votes from the 16-member committee.

[sveumrules]

Selig & Steinbrenner probably have the best shots here. Will Clark was my favorite player growing up & I think Joey/Albert Belle is probably the closest I ever got to seeing Dick Allen, but they're both Hall of Very Good.

 

Will be interesting to see how the committee votes on McGwire compared to the writers.

[recte44]

Selig should be a no brainer

 

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[Baldkin]

Selig should be a no brainer

 

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What are you talking about? He ruined the game. He let an exhibition game end in a tie! He didn't cause a labor stoppage by demanding steroid testing before anyone in the media had even reported on steroids!

[dlk9s]

Selig made smoking cool again.

[And That]

Selig made smoking cool again.

And will again some day.

[jerichoholicninja]

How many freaking groups/committees/etc. are there to get in the Hall of Fame? I guess the less the BWAA controls the better but sheesh.

[1992casey]

I've lost track of the committees. I guess it isn't all that important to keep up with that as long as they make good choices.

 

The Veterans Committee that was around during the first decade of this century failed to elect anyone, so replacing it was probably a good idea. The ad hoc Negro League committee was good as it was assigned to do extensive research in an area where previous voters were operating with too little information. I suppose the Eras idea is somewhat in the same vein, i.e. voters can be somewhat expert in the people they're covering. I don't have a problem with the Hall being fluid about this as long as the right people get in.

 

In this case, Selig should be a slam dunk. Although I didn't particularly like him, Steinbrenner is probably a good choice. Maybe also Piniella. I'm not sure on Schuerholz; maybe he should get more consideration the next time around.

 

McGwire is a wildcard. He obviously has Hall of Fame credentials. But I'm glad I'm not the one making this decision. Having fallen just short of 3,000 hits, Baines is definitely worthy of discussion. I think the others probably fall into the Hall of Very Good.

[MadScientist]

Selig has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 

While I think he deserves it, much like the case with La Russa, I think it comes too soon after retiring. Players have to wait 5 years so that their careers can be looked at objectively, why not executives? I could see slightly shorter waiting periods for people over 80 like Bud, but it should still be at least 2 years. The only group that would make sense to not have a waiting period for would be owners, since the ones most deserving would likely maintain ownership for life.

[reillymcshane]

Congrats to Bud.

[1992casey]

A five-year wait pretty much ensures that a player won't un-retire. But executives (and managers) could easily un-retire at any time, waiting period or not.

 

These guys have generally served so long that I think they're in a reasonable position to be evaluated. Nothing's going to change a whole lot in a year or three.

[Invader3K]

Well deserved. Overall he was a great commissioner for the game.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Craig Calcaterra (HardballTalk) is going after Selig pretty hard, calling his induction an embarrassment. I don't know if I'd go that far, but he raises some good points on how Selig has escaped any accountability for the steroid era. Only the players have suffered any real consequences, while guys like LaRussa and Selig are enshrined.

 

To clarify, Calcaterra is in favor of electing guys like Bonds, Clemens, etc to the HOF. He's just calling out the hypocrisy of making the players shoulder the blame, while anyone else involved escapes any culpability.

[brwrsfan]

Craig Calcaterra (HardballTalk) is going after Selig pretty hard, calling his induction an embarrassment. I don't know if I'd go that far, but he raises some good points on how Selig has escaped any accountability for the steroid era. Only the players have suffered any real consequences, while guys like LaRussa and Selig are enshrined.

 

To clarify, Calcaterra is in favor of electing guys like Bonds, Clemens, etc to the HOF. He's just calling out the hypocrisy of making the players shoulder the blame, while anyone else involved escapes any culpability.

 

It's hard to argue that he's wrong IMO. Yes, the players were the ones that ultimately took the drugs, but there were many, many people that simply just let it happen. Selig more or less encouraged it after the strike to try to get fans back. I hadn't really thought of it, but it really is pretty hypocritical to continuously punish the players (who I think should be in anyways) but give all the enablers of it a free pass.

[owbc]

Anyone else following the BBWAA HOF voting? Lots of interesting story lines again this year.

 

@NotMrTibbs has logged 20% of the ballots so far. Bagwell, Raines, and Pudge look comfortably in. Hoffman is sitting right at 75% and Vlad Guerrero is at 72%. Edgar Martinez looks to be making a significant jump this year--67% currently.

 

Bonds and Clemens have jumped to 71% while Schilling has dropped to 51%.

 

Will be fun to see how this all plays out.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Schilling's drop could have something to do with the fact that he's a tin-foil hat wearing loonybin candidate. I know it has nothing to do with his on-field performance, but he's gone completely off the deep end these last few years, and could definitely fall within the parameters of "character".

[owbc]

The problem with Schilling is that he was a borderline candidate to begin with. If he kept his mouth shut he probably would have gotten the benefit of the doubt (like what's happening with Bonds and Clemens), but he gets a "no" from me because the thought of what he might say in his induction speech is truly disturbing.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Schilling's drop could have something to do with the fact that he's a tin-foil hat wearing loonybin candidate. I know it has nothing to do with his on-field performance, but he's gone completely off the deep end these last few years, and could definitely fall within the parameters of "character".

 

Might not be in the parameters of "character" in the traditional sense (guys with criminal records) but I seem to recall him making a post on social media where he enjoyed someone wearing a T-shirt suggesting the lynching of journalists. And since the BWAA consists entirely of journalists/columnists, then you can easily see how he could quickly fall out of favor in the HOF voting. Of course he said everyone was overreacting to his "joke."

[tmwiese55]

Pudge would be the first pretty clear known PED guy to make it in. I noticed that years ago that somehow he was flying under the radar and was going to walk into the Hall no questions asked, looks like I was right. Ortiz will probably be the next unless they let Bonds/Clemens in. I don't care about PEDs, for me I'd keep Clemens out based on the story of him and the underrage country singer since the Hall has a noted character parameter.

[Outlander]

I have no doubt that Clemens and Bonds will get in by the end of their ten years. The backlog is falling off and voters are almost forced to vote for them.