Hall of Fame Page 12 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bert Blyleven Got In <em>Because</em> Voters Are Irrational, And Other Hall Of Fame Revelations
This is Regressing, a new, numbers-minded column by our clever friends at the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. Today: how a weird tic of Hall of Fame voters helped put Bert Blyleven in Cooperstown....

Let's Marvel At The Perfect Absurdity Of This ESPN Guy's HOF Ballot
Here's the ballot mailed in by Barry Stanton, ESPN news editor: Jack Morris, Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, Don Mattingly, B.J. Surhoff. I shit you not. B.J. Surhoff....

Gnashing Of Teeth, Rending Of Garments Come To An End With HOF Announcement
Bert Blyleven, Roberto Alomar, and no convicted or suspected steroid users were elected to the Hall of Fame. Cranky sportswriters can return to their caves. [BBWAA]...

Just Vote For Jeff Bagwell, You Hypocrites
Jerod Morris idly wondered if Raul Ibanez might've had a little pharmaceutical help, and everyone went nutso. Damien Cox suggested Jose Bautista's numbers were surprising, and he caught shit. So why is it OK to not vote for Bagwell because of "suspicions?"...

Rafael Palmeiro Is Talking Now That It's Time For Hall Of Fame Voters To Judge His Legacy
He still claims he never took steroids. He sought comfort in the soothing words of President George W. Bush. His wife gave him a vitamin shot by accident. Miguel Tejada gave him a B-12 shot. Chances of HOF?: Zilcho. [SI]...

Batshit Hall Of Fame Voter: "I Compare PED Users To Murderers"
And we compare Lowell Cohn to a cymbal-banging monkey toy. I'm beginning to suspect HOF voters really do fancy themselves an elite task force of karacter kops. Drugs make people crazy. A Hall of Fame ballot makes people crazier. [PressDemocrat.com, Business Insider]...

Tom Verducci Did Vote For Marvin Miller, Despite What Crazy Old Coot Says On His Cryptoblog (UPDATE)
Murray Chass, senior writer for murraychass.com, recently threw heat at HOF Expansion Era committee member Tom Verducci for apparently voting against Marvin Miller. Verducci fired back, and thus the post became unique to the Chass oeuvre in that someone actually read it....

Steinbrenner's, Miller's Rejections Mean It's Time To Disband The Veterans Committee
George Steinbrenner and Marvin Miller had perhaps the biggest impact on the modern era of baseball. Their failing to make the Hall of Fame just shows that the Veterans Committee is full of old farts who don't get/don't like the game today....

Rod Carew Is Last Aboard The Blyleven Bandwagon
Carew says he'll boycott the Hall of Fame if Blyleven isn't elected. It would have been a grand gesture had he offered anytime in the past ten years, and not prior to the election everyone assumes will put Bert in. [Pioneer Press]...

The NFL's Hall Of Fame Enshrinement Speeches, AutoSummarized
For those who missed all the speechifying Saturday in Canton—during which Rickey Jackson made Emmitt Smith sound like Cicero, and Chris Berman spent 22 minutes committing what I'm certain were several felony counts of public masturbation—we offer a summary....

Surprise Surprise, The Hall Of Fame Gets It Wrong
Despite his very public preference to go in as a Cub, Andre Dawson's HOF plaque will see him wearing an Expos cap. This is all Wade Boggs's fault. (Really.)...

Hawk About To Get Paid Hawking Autographs
Having a plaque in Cooperstown is nice. The unstated-but-significant financial windfall that comes with being a hall-of-famer could be nicer....

Presenting The Absolute Worst Hall Of Fame Voter (Update)
In all the foofaraw over the HOF elections, one voter stands above the rest in terms of sheer ineptitude and self-promotion. Let's ridicule them! But first, the runners up:...

Robbie Alomar Can Only Think Of One Reason He's Not In The Hall Yet
"His first phone call was to umpire John Hirschbeck, to reassure him there was no hard feelings over the spitting incident and he in no way felt Hirschbeck was responsible." Yeah, no shit the spittee's not responsible. [Stalking Steve Phillips]...

Tony La Russa Is Screwing With Baseball Writers' Heads
Self-important blowhard manager loosely speculating about pinch-hitting Mark McGwire this season vs. self-important blowhard media collective accusing him of dicking around with Mark McGwire's Hall of Fame clock: Who ya got? [NYDN]...

"I Really Have Nothing To Say": 13 Years Of Sad Bert Blyleven Reactions
Every year, poor Bert Blyleven falls short of Cooperstown, and every year, he's asked how it feels. Looking back on 13 years of his glum responses is almost heartbreaking, like watching a frown in slow motion....

BBWAA Spits In Alomar's Face, Elects Andre Dawson
The Hawk and his sweet-ass theme song are in the Hall of Fame. Greatest second baseman of the last 30 years? Never heard of him. [MSF/MLB]...

Does Michael Jordan Have Any Friends Left?
Despite what he'll tell you, Jordan wouldn't have won a single title without help. Yet Jerry Krause, the man who assembled that collection of second bananae, won't be there as MJ enters the Hall of Fame. Why not?...

Jim Rice Doesn't Like Lazy Longhairs Who Ruined Baseball
Big league Hall of Famer Jim Rice opened the World Series for Little Leaguers with a fiery speech that even the grumpiest of grumpy old men could appreciate. The message: Don't look up to today's players because they're all bums....

Michigan Sports Hall Of Fame Is Sad Metaphor For Entire State
The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is $150,000 in debt, even thought it has no employees and doesn't pay rent. Now they want to sell the plaques to raise money, which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?...