One thing that gets my panties in a wad every year is when the Baseball Writer's Association of American (BBWAA) announces their newest inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  I am a huge baseball fan, and I believe baseball is the greatest sport of all time.  You might have guessed that by the number of blogs I devote to the subject.

If someone ever decided to give me a Hall of Fame vote, there would be way fewer people in the Hall of Fame than there are now.  My basic view is, you are either a hall of famer or you aren't.  Mike Schmidt, Hall of Famer.  Clint Hurdle, not a Hall of Famer.  Every year, for the past 7 or 8 years, I have shared with my friends, the annual Hall of Fame email, whereby, I, by, Beer Commissioner edict, single-handedly pull voting credentials of BBWAA writers, for being stupid.  This year, is no exception.  So, let the bashing begin.

First, 28 people voted no for Rickey Henderson.  How can anyone vote against Rickey Henderson?  I read an article, where one writer wrote he voted against Rickey Henderson, because he 'dogged' it sometime.  This is a guy who scored more runs than anyone that EVER played the game.  He stole more bases than ANYONE that ever played the game.  When exactly was he dogging it?  Perhaps when he led off the game with more home runs than anyone that has EVER played the game?  The only dogging going on in this conversation, is the moron who 'dogged' it when he submitted his lame column for voting against the greatest lead-off hitter in the history of the game.  The 28 jokers who voted against Rickey Henderson, you have lost your voting privileges.

Second, the two guys who voted for Jay Bell. Yeah, you two guys.  What in the hell were you two thinking?  Jay Bell does not rank in the top 100 of any statistical category. Not 1.  This is a guy whose baseball card sells for one cent on ebay.  Do you think a guy whose baseball card sells for a penny is a Hall of Famer?  Do you honestly think, a guy who doesn't rank in the top 100 of any category deserves to be in the Hall of Fame?  You two guys, not only did you lose your voting privileges, but I'm going to sentence you two to one year of watching nothing but Pittsburgh Pirate games.

Now for the things that mystify me category.  One person voted for Jesse Orosco. Normally when only one voter votes for someone for the Hall, I yank his privileges.  This guy is safe. Jesse was a pretty solid reliever for a few years, and he did get the last out in the '86 World Series, so it is safe to vote for Jesse because he had a cool moment.

Dave Parker got 81 votes. Dave Parker is not a Hall of Famer, but he deserves 80 votes, if for nothing else, he had the coolest nickname, ever.  THE COBRA.  If there were a nickname Hall of Fame, he'd be in on the first ballot.

And no Hall of Fame blog by me would be complete without mentioning Gary Carter, who clearly, positively belongs nowhere near the Hall of Fame, but should be permanently enjoyed from every entering the State of New York.  Somehow, for some reason, Gary Carter is in the Hall  of Fame. He deserves to be there about as much as Jay Bell, yet, for reasons nobody can explain, he is there.  The following players on this year's Hall of Fame ballot were better than Gary Carter:  Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, Tommy John, Mark McGwire, Tim Raines, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Alan Trammell, Dale Murphy, Harold Baines, Mark Grace and David Cone.  They are ALL better than Gary Carter.  Only two of those players (Jim Rice isn't one of them) should be in the Hall of Fame.  All of the others, like Gary Carter should have to buy a ticket to get in.