January 03, 2008
Another Vote for Goose
John Delcos publishes his Hall of Fame ballot, voting for Gossage. I also appreciate his honesty in not voting for McGwire:
Did not vote for Mark McGwire because of the steroid issue.
(I fixed a typo in the above quote.) If Mark were clean, there would be no debate about his qualifications for the hall. Voters need to realize that the steroid issue is a prefectly good reason for not voting for McGwire. With many years on the ballot, there's plenty of time to debate this issue and see what we learn.
If the steroid issue is a good enough reason to vote agaqinst McGwire (I wouldn't vote for mark anyway) , are the late 80's MLB collusion, Selig's "perjury" testimony regarding MLB finances in 2000 and his control or lack thereof during the steroid era good enough reason to ban Bud from the Hall of Fame?
rmt: yes, absolutely.
No debate if not for the steroid issue? I believe that there would still be some debate over McGwire, a guy who, essentially, just hit home runs with little skills elsewhere in the game.
Of all offensive skills in the game, hitting HRs is the single most efficient way to score runs.
McGwire was very good at getting on base, which is a pretty important skill in its own right. Hell, he even won a gold glove at 1B when he was younger. (I have no idea if it was deserved!)
Re: Gold glove...R. Palmiero won one in late 90s with exactly one game at 1B and rest as DH. Mike Bordick in one year had one solitary error at short, made all the plays. and lost Gold Glove to Vizquel. So much for mgr/coach voting.
