Reflections on Hall of Fame Voting

While all Mets fans were thrilled that Mike Piazza was finally voted into the Hall of Fame, there were plenty of other developments in the voting. Here are some reflections:

— Who were the three nitwits who did not vote for Ken Griffey, Jr.? There was no reason for anyone to leave him off their ballot. Their names will likely come out, and that’s just what they want — a little attention, some reflected glory.

— Jeff Bagwell got 71% of the vote, which means he will probably get in next year. With his vote total and the election of Piazza, maybe the writers realized punishing people based on innuendo is just not fair.

— Tim Raines climbed to nearly 70%. He will also probably get in next year, which is his last year on the ballot.

— Trevor Hoffman received 67%, which means he will get in some day. However, Billy Wagner got just 10%, which means he will struggle just to stay on the ballot, This was a bit surprising; Wagner was as dominant as any reliever in history.

— Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds each got about 45% of the vote. They had been polling at around 35% over their first three years. The rise is likely due to the purge of older voters, but it could mean writers are softening a bit on the whole PED issue.

— On the other hand, Mark McGwire got 12% in his final ballot appearance, Gary Sheffield got 11% and Sammy Sosa just 7%. So maybe not.

— Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina got 52% and 43%, respectively. It was a 13% rise for Schilling and a nearly 20% jump for Mussina. They might be slowly making that climb towards 75%.

— Jim Edmonds fell off the ballot in his first attempt with just 2% of the vote. Nomar Garciaparra is done after two years with less than 2%. Some people made serious arguments that these guys were Hall of Famers.

First-timers next year include Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez. Guerrero should get in, while Ramirez never will; he tested positive, and will suffer the same fate as Rafael Palmeiro. It will be interesting to see what happens with Rodriguez. The PED rumors swirling around him are much stronger than those of Piazza and Bagwell. He certainly will not get in on his first try, but will it be temporary punishment like Piazza, or permanent like Sosa?

In any case, Mike Piazza got in — that’s all we care about now!