If a voter looks at this years ballot & thinks there are only 4 qualified candidates then he/she knows nothing about baseball, or doesn't care enough to take this process, and privilege, seriously.

Bullshit Worms. It's the HALL OF ******* FAME, not the HALL OF REALLY ******* GOOD. Rice, Blyleven, Dawson, etc. have watered this **** down SO far that it's just sad. Neither of those three in particular deserve a SNIFF of the HOF. And Bagwell, Raines, Morris, Trammell, Lee Smith, Edgar Martinez, McGriff, Kent, Schilling, Mussina and Lofton CERTAINLY are in the same category, I mean, WTF??? Where is the STANDARD??? Certainly all of those guys were very good ballplayers in their time, but NONE of them deserve HOF. NOT ONE OF THEM. The HOF is for the BEST of the BEST. And NOT ONE of those guys meets that criteria. That's why it's SO ******* PATHETIC that Blyleven, Rice and Dawson got in in particular. They just don't ******* belong there. You can argue it until you turn purple for all I care, those guys DO NOT BELONG IN THE HALL OF FAME. And neither do any of these "borderline" ******* that you all keep talking about. I'd rather see cheating ***** like Bonds, Clemens and McGwire get in because they AT LEAST have the historical stats to back it up. Yeah, they were probably cheaters, but so was Ruth, so was Cobb, so was Mays, so was Perry and the list goes on and on. At least give it to those who got it done on the field, regardless of their "suspicion: of cheating. EVERYONE in the HISTORY of baseball cheated somehow, but for the HOF to exclude the best of the best, like Rose, Bonds, McGwire and Clemens, is just a joke when you're letting in Jim ******* Rice and Bert ******* Blyleven. The HOF voting has been nothing short of a JOKE for years, and, to tell you the truth, I really don't ******* care anymore about what a bunch of "writers"" have to say about it. These ***** are arrogant dickwads who never even swung a bat. Their opinion is for **** because it's ******* JADED AS ALL GET OUT. Based on homerism and personal opinion. The HOF really, means NOTHING anymore because of this. I don't even know why I go on these rants. It's not gonna change, ever. And really, until PETE ROSE IS IN THE HOF there is really nothing left to talk about. If a piece of human **** like Ty Cobb is in the HOF then you tell me how Rose doesn't belong. The HOF is FILLED with guys who made their careers before black players were even allowed to PLAY. It's a ******* JOKE. Daniel Tosh says it best.......If you don't know what he said I suggest you look it the **** up. Because he's right. About our founding "fathers" and about baseball history. **** the HOF. It's a JOKE.......

Chris Rock said it best:

video.pbs.org/video/1578389531/

I agree with you that Blyleven, Dawson, Rice, and even Sutter and Gossage do not belong in the HOF.  I also agree with you that Clemens, Bonds, and McGwire should be in the HOF.  We're also in agreement that Trammell, Morris, Lee Smith, McGriff, Edgar, Lofton, Kent, and Raines aren't HOFers either.

However, I completely disagree about Jeff Bagwell.  He was one of the most complete players in the game during the 1990's.  His overall stats may not look too impressive because he had a relatively short career, but had some pretty impressive individual seasons that really jump out at you and he "feels" like a HOFer, IMO.

I think Curt Schilling deserves to be in the HOF and Mussina is really close too.  He has a great case.  That being said, it looks like there are going to be 3 1st ballot HOFers this year: Maddux, Glavine, & Frank Thomas.  No arguments about those 3...

Posted by dahsdebater on 1/5/2014 2:12:00 AM (view original):
You're right rsp, you shouldn't waste time writing these long rants.  How the hell you managed to type that many words without actually defending your point with anything more convincing than "these guys DO NOT BELONG IN THE HALL OF FAME" is really beyond me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MRmxfLuNto

Go **** yourself. It's my OPINION...nothing more.I think the HOF and the voting process has been a JOKE for several years. That's my OPINION. Plain and simple. Nothing more, nothing less. I just think that if you let in Rice, Blyleven, Dawson, etc. that you have watered it down SO FAR that you could vote in no less that TWENTY guys this year. And out of those twenty, I think maybe three DESERVE it. Again.......it's the Hall of FAME.......not the Hall of REALLY GOOD.

In some cases, it's the "Hall of My Favorite Players".

Posted by Got_Worms on 1/4/2014 11:40:00 PM (view original):
If a voter looks at this years ballot & thinks there are only 4 qualified candidates then he/she knows nothing about baseball, or doesn't care enough to take this process, and privilege, seriously.

Perhaps you just have lower standards for the HOF than others.    Has THAT crossed your mind?

Maddux, Clemens, Bonds, Piazza are HOFers.

Then you get into the group that you have to "make a case" for induction.   IMO, if you have to argue for a player, he probably doesn't deserve to be recognized as the best of the best.  

Frank Thomas is the one that intrigues me.   The first 6-8 years of his career were sick.   I think he had 40 homers and 50 whiffs in one of them.  But he was a DH for half of his career.   Not sure how I feel about that.

Updated: Jan.5 - 8:20 ~ 130 Full Ballots ~ (22.8% of vote ~ based on last year)

100%  - Maddux
97.7 - Glavine
91.5 - F. Thomas
80.8 - Biggio
———————————
72.3 - Piazza
63.8 - Bagwell
60.8 - Jack (The Jack) Morris
58.5 - Raines
42.3 - Bonds
41.5 - Clemens
40.0 - Schilling
32.3 - Mussina
24.6 - Trammell
24.6 - E. Martinez
23.1 - L. Smith
14.6 - Kent
13.1 - McGriff
11.5 - L. Walker
10.0 - McGwire
  8.5 - S. Sosa
  6.2 - R. Palmeiro
  5.4 - Mattingly
———————————
0.8 - P. Rose (Write-In)

Posted by MikeT23 on 1/5/2014 8:13:00 AM (view original):
Maddux, Clemens, Bonds, Piazza are HOFers.

Then you get into the group that you have to "make a case" for induction.   IMO, if you have to argue for a player, he probably doesn't deserve to be recognized as the best of the best.  

Frank Thomas is the one that intrigues me.   The first 6-8 years of his career were sick.   I think he had 40 homers and 50 whiffs in one of them.  But he was a DH for half of his career.   Not sure how I feel about that.

Just because a guy isn't a "lock" doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be in. That's why you need 75% and not 100%.

I also find it funny you're knocking Thomas for being a DH when Piazza's horrid defense probably hurt his teams. Thomas was one of the best RH hitters ever and definitely best in the game for at least 3-4 years of his career.

HOFers on the current ballot: Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, Clemens, Bonds, Piazza, Bagwell, Biggio. I'm on the fence on Schilling and Mussina, but I also don't think they water down the HOF if they're inducted. I'd also vote for McGwire. He was the greatest power hitter in the game for a good chunk of his career and still has the best HR/AB ratio of all-time, I believe.

Most people say Piazza called a great game.  His arm was weak, but pitchers liked to pitch to him and he blocked potential wild pitches with the best of them.

Posted by The Taint on 1/5/2014 4:24:00 PM (view original):
Most people say Piazza called a great game.  His arm was weak, but pitchers liked to pitch to him and he blocked potential wild pitches with the best of them.

I'm not sure who you're talking to, but I haven't heard anyone say Piazza was a good defender.

Posted by MikeT23 on 1/5/2014 4:16:00 PM (view original):

That would be your opinion.   If a guy's not a "lock", I don't need him in the HOF.

Well, no one has ever gotten 100%, so I guess no one should be in the HOF.