Deadspin Loses One Hall Of Fame Vote, But Gains Another

Recently, as you know, we announced that we had purchased a Hall of Fame ballot from a veteran baseball writer, with the intention of turning it over to Deadspin readers. The idea was to give a bit of power to ordinary baseball fans, and to draw attention to the increasing absurdity of the Hall of Fame process, which at this point is basically about a subset of a subset of a subset of the baseball press passing moral judgments on retired ballplayers. (Check out Bill Madden—a scab, as well as a miserable hack— getting all sanctimonious about players like Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza, who have never been credibly tied to drug use.)

Because this project is being conducted in a certain spirit of openness, we feel we should let you know that our original purchase has fallen through. We can't go into much detail, because doing so would expose the voter in question, whose ballot we intend to purchase next year. We can say that this voter has not lost his or her vote, is not in trouble with the institution for which he or she works, and in all can't fairly be blamed for not fulfilling the terms of the letter of agreement he or she signed with Gawker Media LLC.

We can also tell you that the deal was not a straight cash-for-ballot swap, as was assumed in some of the dumber precincts of the press, which labeled the writer a " scumbag" out to " make a quick buck." In fact, the agreement called for us to make a sizable donation to a non-profit that helps wounded veterans readjust to civilian life. Our voter was (and is) motivated both by a disgust with the process and a desire to enlist the public in an effort to bring about reform while raising money for a worthy cause.

Alas, that was not to be. Sometimes circumstances just conspire against you. We look forward to working with this voter next year to again subvert the Hall of Fame process.

More happily, though, we're in a position to let you know that another voter has come forward, and has given control of his or her vote over to Deadspin in exchange for certain considerations. We'll announce the identity of this voter and his or her motivations next month, when the Hall of Fame reveals which players have and haven't been elected, but the main thing you need to know—aside from the fact that we have ins with a surprising number of Hall of Fame voters who are as fed up with this farcical process as you are—is that we're moving up the deadline for voting to Thursday, Dec. 26, in order to ensure that the Deadspin ballot will make it in by the Dec. 31 deadline. (We will, incidentally, continue to run profiles of all the candidates on the ballot even past this date, so as to do our part to ensure that players like Jacque Jones and Armando Benitez get the recognition they're due, and which the current lousy process denies them.)

So, if you've been holding off on voting, get to it! (You can do so right here, and find an explanation of the process by which we'll be using your votes to fill out the ballot here.) Don't leave the Hall of Fame to hypocrites like Bill Madden; make your voice heard.