Last chance to vote down Garvey

[Guest Edgy DC]

Spock to McCoy: "You're confusing being empirical with being stubborn."

ev-i-dence

�noun 1. that which tends to prove or disprove something;

ground for belief

; proof.

2. something that makes plain or clear; an indication or sign: His flushed look was visible evidence of his fever.

3. Law. data presented to a court or jury in proof of the facts in issue and which may include the testimony of witnesses, records, documents, or objects.

�verb (used with object) 4. to make evident or clear; show clearly; manifest: He evidenced his approval by promising his full support.

5. to support by evidence: He evidenced his accusation with incriminating letters.

�Idiom 6. in evidence, plainly visible; conspicuous: The first signs of spring are in evidence.

]In all seriousness -- and I do realize this is fundamentally another issue -- the instructions should be modified so that Hall voting is for the best Major League Baseball players.

But that is the instruction, in black and white, and you're arguing for standards on one hand, and on the other suggesting that voters arbitrarily ingore some very explict standards that they are asked to use.

[Guest Edgy DC]

You know, I was kind of surprised to see so few ex-Mets on the ballot, compared to previous seasons. Checking though, it seems they're getting a little more miserly with the ballot these days. Among the guys retiring after the 2001 season were Dave Magadan, Bernard Gilkey, Derek Bell, Darryl Hamilton, and Rico Brogna, who'd be a good fit.

The policy had been to put anybody with ten years on the ballot, and then cull out anyone who squeezed in by meeting that standard by being mostly a part-timer or pulling partial seasons. That comes down, of course, toa judgement call. Not that it matters much at the end of the day, but it seems that at least Magadan and Gilkey would have made it in previous years.

[Vic Sage]

The vote comes down today, doesn't it?

[on edit: a 2pm announcement is scheduled]

[Guest Edgy DC]

Dale Petroskey, come on down.

[Vic Sage]

here's Jayson stark's ballot, with his commentary. I agree with him, mostly... especially about Gossage, Blyleven and the underappreciated Dale Murphy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof07/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2724111

[seawolf17]

Make this the year, folks.

[Vic Sage]

here are the ballots of the dozen HOF voters who are regular contributors to ESPN.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof07/news/story?id=2721445

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

So McGwire gets smacked because he testified poorly before Congress, because that's the only evidence.

Meanwhile, does Bonds get a pass because he was able to avoid appearing before that committee? What would he have said up there? Does he get the same 23 percent in his first year?

This is a slipperly slope. Just wait until that list of 100 players who tested positive gets released. Are those guys tainted forever, too?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: So McGwire gets smacked because he testified poorly before Congress, because that's the only evidence.

I have no problem with that.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think the results of his career combine with that evidence. And that's compelling evidence.

And there's compelling evidence against Bonds without him appearing before Congress.

And he didn't get smacked. He failed to get baseball's highest honor.

And there's no forever about it.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Oh didn't make it.

[nymr83]

]Ripken was picked by 537 voters and appeared on 98.53 percent of ballots to finish with the third-highest percentage behind Tom Seaver (98.84) and Nolan Ryan (98.79).

i guess you're either in or you're out, but i have to wonder how Ripken "did better" than guys like Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, etc.

Gwynn and Ripken were the only ones who got in, though Gossage got 71% of the vote. Rice (64%), Dawson (57%), and Blyleven (46%) were the next 3.

[Vic Sage]

started a new thread on this topic, to deal with post-vote reaction.