| MLB Writers Send Message |
| By Sally Haase Jan. 11, 2013 For the first time since 1996, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame will not induct a player selected by the baseball writers association. None of the players met the required 75% of votes for induction. There are still inductees, but the new members were selected by the veteran’s committee. Baseball fans wondered how this ballot would play out considering we are getting to the first round of players who have either tested positive for performance enhancing drugs or admitted to use after retirement, players like Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and the big one- Barry Bonds all have numbers that would get them in the hall on the first ballot. Unfortunately they all played in the PED era and the writers are apparently using a lot more discretion in selecting players for the Hall of Fame. That is fine by me for the writers to be pickier with the voting, but they missed at least one player who was not under the PED umbrella- pitcher Jack Morris. Morris was the best pitcher of his generation and his 10 innings masterpiece in game seven of the 1991 World Series should be enough proof of his hall worthiness. But here are the rest of his career stats- 254 wins, 2,478 strikeouts, five time All-Star and a four time World Series champion. The era is a little high at 3.90 but that one average stat should not outweigh the other great numbers Morris put up in his 17 season career. Another possibility for the slow election of Morris could be that he was not the most media friendly guy in his playing days, but that should not matter either, there are a few players who have done a lot worse than being mean to reporters and they are in the Hall of Fame. Morris has until 2014 to get into the Hall of Fame on the baseball writers ballot, after that he will move to the veteran’s committee where that group can right the wrong. The player who led all in the ballot was a player in the “steroid era” but his name has never been brought up in discussions of PED users- Craig Biggio. In an era where it is rare to spend your entire career with one team, Biggio did. His 20 seasons with the Houston Astros are a franchise record; even though Biggio did not win a World Series with the Astros, he still put up some numbers that should get him into the Hall of Fame- 3,060 hits and a .281 average in time spent behind the plate at second base and in the outfield. Biggio was also a seven time All-Star, four time gold glove winner and a five time silver slugger award winner. The 3,000 + hits for Biggio should be enough to get him in the Hall of Fame one of these years and the writers should remember how Biggio played the game, he played hard and he carried himself with class. The fact that he choose to stay with the Astros when he could have jumped ship and signed a big free agent contract with a World Series contender shows you the personality of Craig Biggio. When the baseball writers association receives their ballots for next year, I hope they take a closer look at the stats put up by Morris and Biggio, let’s not have another shutout next year when there are plenty of deserving and clean players to put into the Hall of Fame. |
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