2006 Hall of Fame Votes

[trsent]

Ok, so I read today that Bruce Sutter finally made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of the eligible people on the ballot, the bottom votes were very interesting:

Name Ballots received Percentage
---- ---------------- ----------

Bruce Sutter 400 76.9
Jim Rice 337 64.8
Rich Gossage 336 64.6
Andre Dawson 317 61.0
Bert Blyleven 277 53.3
Lee Smith 234 45.0
Jack Morris 214 41.2
Tommy John 154 29.6
Steve Garvey 135 26.0
Alan Trammell 92 17.7
Dave Parker 75 14.4
Dave Concepcion 65 12.5
Don Mattingly 64 12.3
Orel Hershiser 58 11.2
Dale Murphy 56 10.8
Albert Belle 40 7.7
Will Clark 23 4.4
Dwight Gooden 17 3.3
Willie McGee 12 2.3
Ozzie Guillen 5 1.0
Hal Morris 5 1.0
Gary Gaetti 4 0.8
John Wetteland 4 0.8
Rick Aguilera 3 0.6
Gregg Jefferies 2 0.4
Doug Jones 2 0.4
Walt Weiss 1 0.2
Gary DiSarcina 0 0.0
Alex Fernandez 0 0.0

Geez, that is crooked. Oh well. Tell me, who were the two who voted for Gregg Jefferies and who was on the one who voted for Walt Weiss? Really, I just don't get it.

[ChrisCavalier]

Tell me, who were the two who voted for Gregg Jefferies and who was on the one who voted for Walt Weiss? Really, I just don't get it.

I think the two who voted for Jefferies are members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who loaded up on Jefferies' rookie cards when he first came into the league and still have them.

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Chris

[RobSteinmetz]

As a Cubs and Cardinals fan, I'm thrilled that Bruce Sutter was elected this year. Based on his increase in votes this year, it appears to me that Goose Gossage with be enshrined in the not too distant future as well. What strikes me as interesting is that Lee Smith, baseball's all-time save leader, only showed up on 45% of the ballots (I think this was down from last year). Here's a quick stat comparison between Smith and two HOF closers...

Bruce Sutter (12 seasons): 300 saves, 2.83 career ERA, 1 Cy Young, 6 All-Star Games, Led League in Saves 5 times, Pitched in 1 postseason.

Rollie Fingers (17 seasons): 341 saves, 2.90 career ERA, 1 Cy Young, 7 All-Star Games, Led League in Saves 3 times, Pitched in 6 postseasons.

Lee Smith (18 seasons): 478 saves, 3.03 career ERA, No Cy Young, 7 All-Star games, Led League in Saves 4 times, Pitched in 2 postseasons.

P.S. - How come Alex Fernandez didn't get any votes?

[trsent]

I think the two who voted for Jefferies are members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who loaded up on Jefferies' rookie cards when he first came into the league and still have them.

Let's see, according to items for sale on beckett.com, you can buy Gregg Jefferies rookies from 1989 DonRuss for between ten cents and twenty-five cents each.

For comparison sake, Ken Griffey, Jr. has a card in the same set. His Rated Rookie can be bought for about three dollars each. I know Griffey's numbers has been down due to injury, but he has 500 home runs and how many gold gloves?

Two votes is an embarrassment, sorry Gregg or people who invested in his trading cards.

[trsent]

What strikes me as interesting is that Lee Smith, baseball's all-time save leader, only showed up on 45% of the ballots (I think this was down from last year). Here's a quick stat comparison between Smith and two HOF closers...

P.S. - How come Alex Fernandez didn't get any votes?

Should I pull the race card with this debate? Nah, too early, but history shows in baseball, if your skin is one color over another player's skin color, often you are looked at as better. Sad, but maybe still true. Lee Smith was one of the greats, no doubt about it.

As for Alex Fernandez, a 107-87 career record without ever recording a save in a ten year career isn't going to cut it. Then again, he does have THREE career home runs!

[R. C. Walker]

Should I pull the race card with this debate? Nah, too early, but history shows in baseball, if your skin is one color over another player's skin color, often you are looked at as better. Sad, but maybe still true. Lee Smith was one of the greats, no doubt about it.

Whoa! Before you start throwin’ cards around, consider Jeff Reardon:

16 Years, 367 Saves (All- Time Leader at one point), 3.16 ERA. And if I remember correctly, a couple of awful outings in the ‘92 Post Season w/ the Braves. He's completely off the HoF ballot.

IMHO Lee Smith or Jeff Reardon were good, the Blyleven's and John's of relievers, but not “All-Time Greats” no matter what color skin they have.

[Swoboda4]

First of all, does anybody have any Sutter game used items?(Photos please)- If the HOF voters didn't waste 78 votes from the bottom portion(Will Clark: 4.4% down to Walt Weiss: 0.2%)it would have more than likely helped at least one other person get elected. What is the motive for these waste votes on such an important event?

[trsent]

I think David Letterman should start making noise that Buddy Biancalana is not on the ballot.

[Birdbats]

First of all, does anybody have any Sutter game used items?(Photos please)- If the HOF voters didn't waste 78 votes from the bottom portion(Will Clark: 4.4% down to Walt Weiss: 0.2%)it would have more than likely helped at least one other person get elected. What is the motive for these waste votes on such an important event?

I'm lucky to have a signed Sutter bat from the 80-83 label period -- you can see it on my Web site. Just go to my home page and then click the "Buy/Sell/Trade" button -- you'll see Sutter at the top of the photo. I guess that bat became a bit more valuable yesterday, huh? I remember seeing Sutter at a show before I had one of his bats, and I asked if he knew of any that might be available. He just smiled and said, "Nah. They didn't cut down a lot of trees for me." I've seen maybe three Sutter bats in all the years I've been collecting.

As for wasted votes, just because the guys at the bottom received votes doesn't mean the same writers didn't vote for the guys at the top. They can vote for as many players as they like. Jeffries' votes probably came from a couple writers who were personal friends -- they could also have voted for Rice, Goose and the others on the same ballot.

Good point about Reardon. I feel the same way about Ted Simmons. His stats compare very favorably with catchers already in the HOF, but he couldn't even get 5% to stay on the ballot. It makes no sense.

Jeff
http://www.birdbats.com

[earlywynnfan]

As the proud owner of a Sutter game-worn Cubs cap, I'm glad to see him in!

While we're talking about who's getting robbed, I don't understand Trammell. OK, maybe he's not Honus Wagner, but he's also not Felix Fermin! And why isn't Lou Whitaker even on the ballot anymore?

Ken

PS: Put in Santo and Minoso! NOW!! (There, I've said my 2 cents, I'll be quiet now.)