Hmmmm

Written by Greg Fertel | 24 January 2007

I was checking out the transcript of a recent chat over at ESPN when this caught my eye:

Doug (NYC): Not that it matters, but if Cal Ripken, Jr. can't make it into the HoF unanimously, can you envision any current player ever getting in with 100% of the votes? Gary Gillette: Far be it for me to try to explain the BBWAA voting for the Hall, where Sutter gets in and Goose doesn't, where Ted Williams and Willie Mays doesn't get 100%, etc. So, no, I don't see anyone ever getting 100% support from the writers, some of whom always seem to have a petty reason for not voting for even the greatest players.

I know there's those 1 or 2 guys who leave their ballot blank each year trying to prove some point like a bunch of 3rd graders, and of course there's the nitwits who inexplicably leave guys off their ballots (how could anyone not vote for Tony Gwynn? He struck out only 434 times in 9288 career AB's, which by my calculation is frickin' amazing), but in 7, 8, 9 years or whatever, how can anyone not vote for Mariano Rivera? Bruce Sutter and The Eck have already broke the "reliever barrier," and there's a good chance Goose will also do so by then, so it's not like Mo will have much of an anti-reliever bias against him. His playing resume is unmatched, and he's been nothing but a class act and model human being off the field. At the least he should eclipse Tom Seaver's record vote of 98.something%. Maybe it's just my internal bias, but if there was ever someone worthy of a unanimous selection, it's Mo. (apologies for the non-prospect related rant)