Friday, January 07, 2005
Greatest player ever?
Surprisingly, Joe Morgan has said something that I don't agree with. I didn't even get past his second comment in his latest ESPN chat.
So what should voters do, Joe? Should people not vote for Roger Clemens when he comes up just to ensure that he does not get 100% of the vote? What would happen if everyone did that, just to be safe, and then he didn't make it? Or, would you suggest that everyone collaborate to make sure that he only gets 95% of the vote? Do we really want voter collusion? The HOF voting process would become an even bigger laughingstock under any of these scenarios.
Babe Ruth did not get 100% of the vote. Neither did Ty Cobb, or Willie Mays, or Ted Williams, or Honus Wagner. And you know what, millions of people consider each of them to be "the greatest" who ever played. If someone comes along and gets 100%, nobody is going to take that as proof that this player was the greatest ever. They will take that as proof that all of the Hall of Fame voters felt that player was worthy of induction in his first year of eligibility, and that is all.
Random guy: Do you think anybody will ever get 100% of the votes (Clemens, Ripken, etc.)?
Joe Morgan: The way the voting goes now, I would say it could happen. But if Hank Aaron didn't get 100, Ted Williams didn't get 100, etc. then I would say it shouldn't happen. Nobody is better than the guys I just mention. 100 percent would seem to say he is the best player ever.
So what should voters do, Joe? Should people not vote for Roger Clemens when he comes up just to ensure that he does not get 100% of the vote? What would happen if everyone did that, just to be safe, and then he didn't make it? Or, would you suggest that everyone collaborate to make sure that he only gets 95% of the vote? Do we really want voter collusion? The HOF voting process would become an even bigger laughingstock under any of these scenarios.
Babe Ruth did not get 100% of the vote. Neither did Ty Cobb, or Willie Mays, or Ted Williams, or Honus Wagner. And you know what, millions of people consider each of them to be "the greatest" who ever played. If someone comes along and gets 100%, nobody is going to take that as proof that this player was the greatest ever. They will take that as proof that all of the Hall of Fame voters felt that player was worthy of induction in his first year of eligibility, and that is all.
# posted by Darlucky @ 3:34 PM 
