January 04, 2007
McGwire Poll
ESPN surveyed a sample of Hall of Fame voters. Not surprisingly, McGwire does not garner much support, but more than enough to keep him on the ballot. The question that's really interesting was the second:
If no, will you vote for him in succeeding years?
• Yes -- 5 (5.0 percent)
• No -- 31 (30.7 percent)
• Undecided -- 43 (42.6 percent)
• No opinion given -- 22 (21.8 percent)
So 31 of the 138 voters polled say they will not vote for McGwire. That's 22.5%. That's very close to the number (>25%) than keeps a player out of the Hall. If this is a representative sample of voters, that does not bode well for McGwire making it in the future.
Who would vote for Bonds but not McGwire? Strange. I guess reporters trust Jose Conseco more than their own kind.
If JCB is implying that folks think McGwire was juicing ONLY becasue of Conseco's book, that is a little silly. I think the average baseball observer feels comfortable saying that Bonds, McGwire, Sosa used PEDs at some point in their careers. This point is made much better by the "article" about Bonds in The Onion's 2006 Year in Sports entitled "No Shit."
Actually, JCB is probably referring to the survey results, where Bonds got a 44% yes vote out of 99 respondents. Click the link in the post to see all the survey results.
It's also germaine to note that the quote David shows is of the 101 voters who said they will not vote for McGwire this year. That's where the difference between the percentages comes from.
"Who would vote for Bonds but not McGwire?" The thinking seems to be that with PEDs Bonds maybe the best ever, but without he would still have had a HOF career. Stellar seasons In Pittsburugh etc. Whereas McGwire HOF credentials were due to the drug boost.
Lets say the voters do not elect Mark McGwire in this or any other year and he eventually drops off of the ballot. Can the veteran's committee eventually vote him in or do they only look at players from the distant past?? Just curious, because if it ever goes to the veterans committee they will surely vote him in I would think.
By the way, I support Mark Mcgwire being in the Hall. One argument that I read from a voter is that McGwire cheated therefore he cannot vote for him because that shows he lacks character. If that is the case, then we should wholesale kick a few HoF's out since there are certainly some questionable characters already in the Hall.
Maybe in 25 years, dtc. MM will do far better with the BWA than the Vets committee as currently constituted.
dtc,
You have to come up with better logic than "if this guy can't go in then kick out X, Y, and Z." Are Tiger fans saying Rizzutu has to get kicked out of the HoF since Trammell isn't getting elected? Of course not. Trammell should be elected (or not) based on his merits. He should not be selected just because the VC screwed up and caved to Yankee pressure to put a very mediocre SS in the HoF.
