My Not-at-all Researched, Half-assed, and Probably Completely Lame Opinion on the Hall of Fame Voting

Congratulations to former Reds great Barry Larkin on his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor to be sure. I'm sincerely happy for him.

Former Twin Jack Morris fell short of the needed votes for election. I love Jack Morris. I love what he did for the Twins, and I love what he did in the World Series. He was a very good pitcher who had some great games. But I don't think he's a hall of famer. I could look up all his numbers and research his performances to support my opinion (and trust me, if I had a vote, I'd do that for all my choices), but right now my gut tells me he's not great enough to be in. However, he's pretty close and I bet he'll get in next year.

My all-time favorite Twin, Brad Radke, received only two votes for the Hall of Fame, which isn't enough to be on the ballot again. This is ok with me. In fact, I'm a bit surprised he got any votes. As much as I loved watching him pitch, I'm perfectly satisfied keeping him within the realm of Twins Favorites.

So, that's about it for the stuff I agree with. Now for the grumbling.

I've mentioned before that I'm not happy with the Hall of Fame voting process. I'm even less happy with it now than I was then, which isn't surprising now that the "cloud of suspicion" class of players are beginning to be eligible.

Which leads me to this: why the hell isn't Jeff Bagwell in the Hall of Fame yet? I mean, he was certainly good enough. Oh yeah, because he happened to play at the same time some other players who used PEDs did and he had big arms. Never mind that there was no reason to suspect him for doing anything other than play good baseball.

Now if some writers simply don't feel in their guts that he belongs in the Hall, that's fine. However, I have issues with those who proudly strut their intentional snubbing of him simply because they don't like the way he looked.

And all this nauseating righteousness is going to get worse next year because Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be eligible.

I can understand the difficulty in voting for someone who has been accused of doping. Players have been trying to find a competitive edge for all of time, and this particular edge is more problematic than others. But since we can't know who really did what or what, if any, effect any suspected substances may have had, voters really ought to stick to making their determinations based on players' performance.

But many won't, and that'll be a shame.

Scraping Together Some Thoughts

After a week of scraping ice off my windshield, sidewalk, and face, I'll scrape together a couple of random thoughts about baseball to help warm me up.

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Well, Bert and Jack didn't get into the Hall of Fame. That's too bad. Bert's votes went up a smidge from last year, but, alas, not enough. Honestly, I don't understand the Hall of Fame voting. Well, I understand that the members of the BBWA vote for the inductees, but I don't understand what goes through some of their minds.

First of all, how can Bert go so long without getting in. His numbers are good enough compared with other inductees, and the stats don't change as time goes by, but he still can't catch a break. And he's understandably frustrated.

Secondly, how do 5% of the voters decide not to vote for Rickey Henderson. I've heard the excuse that since Babe Ruth didn't get 100% of the vote, no one else should either. That's stupid. If you think that someone belongs in the Hall, then vote for him. Period. Besides, the ones who didn't vote for Babe Ruth must have been morons.

And, though I've mentioned it before, it's still stuck in my craw that broadcasters don't get a vote. You can't tell me that great announcers like Vin Scully and Harry Kalas aren't knowledgeable enough to make an intelligent vote. I'm sure they would've voted for Bert, Rickey, and Babe.

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So, there's been some talk that the Twins really need to re-sign Joe Mauer this year, before teams start thinking they have a shot at offering him bagillions of dollars. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I was listening to the MLB talk radio on XM the other day, and a Red Sox fan called in to talk about their needs at catcher, and he said something like they only needed to worry about the next two years and then they can sign Joe Mauer. Umm, excuse me? Mitts off my catcher, bub!

Dear Mr. Smith,
You want to make a bunch of fans in Minnesota after Torii and Johan left on your watch? Sign Joey to a 10-year deal. NOW!
Love,
k-bro

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I'm colossally irritated that single-game tickets aren't going on sale until March 7. Usually they start selling them at Twins Fest. I really, really, really want to go to the final game of the season -- final game in the Metrodome. Actually, I'm one of the few fans I know who doesn't actually mind the Dome. In fact, I see some charm in it -- and there are some great Twins memories there. Oh well, I'll clear my calendar for that morning and expect to spent a bunch of time hitting refresh on the ticket-selling browser page or redial on my phone.

Shades of Victory

Tuesday: Twins 6 - Yuckees 9 (12)
Wednesday: Twins 4 - Yuckees 2

Too bad "moral victories" don't count. I mean, it was a moral victory Tuesday that the Twins scored three runs off Mussina. It was a moral victory to collect 12 hits off Yankee pitching. It was a moral victory to complete five double plays. It was a moral victory to give Mariano Rivera his first BS (blown save) of the season. It was a moral victory for D.Y. to take that cut fastball the other way and simply muscle it out of the park. Yup, it was a moral victory all the way. All the way to the top of the 12th when Matty Guerrier coughed up three runs. Then it was a straight up defeat.

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Real victories are much nicer, aren't they. And today's victory was real fair and square. Kevin Slowey did a very nice job keeping the Yankees off balance and in check. Thank you K-Slo, we needed that. (And thanks to S.Rail for the nickname.) And thank you D.Y. for liking to hit 3-run homers so much that you did it two days in a row.

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So j-bro asked me a question I'll pose to you...do the Yankees have a hall of famer at every position? Quick, do you know?

The answer is no. They don't have a third baseman or a left fielder that went in as Yankees. That kind of surprises me.

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Next up: Carlos Silva brings his Mariners to the Dome to face Franchise's Twins. Should be a good one.