Baseball's Hall of Fame

Voting is a privilege not a right. 

A few voters in baseball need to remember or be reminded of that.

When the Hall of Fame ballots are finally all counted up and announced on Wednesday we should hear the names of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine announced.  Both of these former Braves pitchers should be locks to make it on their first go around.  In the case of Maddux he should be a unanimous choice... He should be the first unanimous choice ever... however he won't be.  It has already been reported that at least one writer has left him off their ballot. 

Voting for awards, and not unlike speculating who will make a certain country's national hockey team can and will be very subjective.  One's person's list likely differs from the next, but only moderately. Can you imagine a Team Canada roster that does not include Sidney Crosby on it?  Probably not. Why? Common sense, he's the best player in the world how could he not be included? The same thing applies to Maddux? The greatest pitcher in his generation, over 300 wins, no suggestions of steroid abuse, just a great pitcher with great numbers, gold gloves, All-Star selections a World Series title and a professor like mentality every time he takes the ball on the mound. Sounds pretty much like Hall of Fame credentials doesn't it?  And yet he would not be unanimous decision because some fool decided he wanted to be the story he wanted the limelight.  In actuality he has brought shame and disrespect to the Hall of Fame the American Baseball Writers Association and himself.  For that he should have his vote taken away and anyone else who decide to use their position to make a silly statement and clearly not take this more seriously should lose their vote too.

This is not an open vote, this is a particular honor given because of his job title. You would like to see a media member, a journalist show some integrity when given an opportunity such as this. When they teach sports journalism one would think that the first lessons would be let the story be the story, don't you be the story. Be objective, be critical if it is warranted but be fair, be honest do not show a bias. 

Now as it relates to the Hall of Fame voting, if this is going to continue to happen reform needs to be made to either the voting process or the members who vote or the criteria required.  If some idiot who covers the Dodgers can make a mockery of the system he should lose his vote, Vin Scully does not even get a vote and I think most will admit he has probably forgot more about baseball that a lot of people know. Dan Shulman, the leading broadcaster on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, does not have a vote. You're giving guys way too much power who probably do not deserve it.  Ever seen or been in a newsroom before? There are usually a lot of people who are severely under qualified to be given this much responsibility. 

Each ballot should be reviewed upon completion by some sort of 'quality control' group or committee and any questionable ballots should be set aside and those who sent it in should be called in and ask to rationalize and defend their decisions, explain why they made the choice they made and if they can't do so that either revoke their right to vote and have the vote completely discounted and then lose their right to vote in the future or perhaps give them the opportunity, a second chance, as it were to make it right going forward.

The other issue in the Hall of Fame voting as to whether or not to allow players from the steroid era to be inducted.  This is an interesting dilemma because it also takes in not just numbers or even perception but also more only issues.  Does Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa or Rafael Palmero deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?  Based on what they do on the field the answer's yes. What they did off the field to make themselves better, that is a different question. There were no rules of the time or testing that prevented them from taking any questionable substances nor did they test positive.  It is naive to think that they were clean, but whose responsibility was it to ensure that they were.  Major League Baseball clearly turned a blind eye to the rampant drug use among their players.  The players association fought tooth and nail to keep drug testing it out of the game.  The baseball writers, the same ones that have the final vote of who is hall worthy did not do anything about it either.  If they are so ethical now and they suspected there was wrong doing at the time either should have done some investigatory journalism and exposed the players or the culture at that time.  They were writers during the steroid era, so by extension shouldn't be subjected to the same standards that they're holding the players to.  Because they were writers during the steroid era all their Hall of Fame votes should be discarded under the same cloud of suspicion and speculation, maybe 87% of the writers were `juicing too`.
Clearly a new system used to be put in place where there is a committee made up of baseball professionals former players and managers and executives something needs to be done.  It is sad when politics and greed and indeed for attention enter into sports and corrupts it. Leave politics to the politicians.


As a side note it is probably about time to open up the doors for Pete Rose.  Sure he is probably not a great guy but the hall is filled with probably not great guys.  But what he was able to do between the white lines is clearly Hall of Fame worthy.  You want him out of baseball, not be able to work in baseball that's fine keep him banned from the game, but a Hall of Fame without the all time hits leader just does not make sense. Not from a game that holds numbers in such high regards. You can have it both ways. 

Braves Not 'Medlen' Around

The Atlanta Braves have been known as the team with the best pitching staff over the 1990's and into the 2000's. When you can throw out 3 near lock first ballot Hall of Fame inductees like Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and then mix in other ace potential starters like: Denny Neagle, Kevin Millwood, Steve Avery, Charlie Leibrandt, Pete Smith,  Jason Marquis and Jason Schmidt, you quickly see that the Braves have a history of building a championship caliber team from the mound out.  It was a great time to be a Braves fan. 14 straight division titles will do that for you. When you looked on the bench you would see Bobby Cox getting ready to get thrown out of a game and pitching coach Leo Mazzone rocking back and forth watching his pitchers.

Now the Braves are looking at going back to the playoffs, this time likely as the Wild Card team. This is for 2 reasons 1) The Washington Nationals have over achieved and have the best record in baseball and 2) The Braves have been hit with big injuries to key pitchers and yet have managed to secure a spot in the post season.

The Braves have managed to do what the Nationals have botched up from the beginning and that is to have a young stud pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery and managing his arm correctly and not harming their team in the process. Washington has the well known big gun Stephen Strasburg, the Braves have much less known Kris Medlen. The Nats made Strasburg the opening day starter and rode him as the ace until late August when they realized that he was getting close to the max innings they were prepared for him to work so as to not harm him long team. A fine Idea if you are the Houston Astros and have no hope of making the playoffs and shutting him down has no baring on anything, but the Nats were supposed to be good and should have know that using Stephen Strasburg as much as they did they would have to shut him down early or risk breaking there plan and putting the golden arm in a potentially dangerous position. The Braves seemed to take the opposite approach with Kris Medlen. The started him out in the bullpen, managed his outings, pitch counts and innings. In mid season they called on him to join the rotation as the rotation had been pounded with injuries and inconsistent starts.

Since then Medlen has been nothing short of spectacular. Currently (9-1) lost the first two starts of his career in 2009. He hasn't taken a loss in any of his 26 starts since, with the Braves prevailing in the last 21 of those...almost unheard of (The Yankees won 22 consecutive times when Whitey Ford started games from 1950 through 1953). Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams said recently on the Dan Patrick Show that he was the best pitcher in baseball right now. Not bad for a guy who started the year as a reliever.

Had Medlen been in the rotation he would likely be in the running for the Cy Young in the NL but then he also would be over his innings limit like Strasberg the Braves still have Medlen's services.  After losing Brandon Beachy's services after he went under the knife with Tommy John Surgery the braves were in need of a new ace. Ben Sheets went on the DL, Tim Hudson was on and off injured, Tommy Hanson had his struggles and Jair Jurrjens was inconsistent and then on the DL.  The braves managed to work through these injuries and still be in a position for the wild card.  No small feat for sure. Going forward they also have 2 guys to help fill out the depth of the rotation in respect to high end prospects; Randall Delgado and Julio Teheran. Both have a high upside and can hopefully come in and compete for a spot, work out of the pen as they mature or be used to help fill out the roster with the holes via trade that will open up this off season.

Just where would the Braves be have they have a full staff.  If Medlen and Beachy were healthy at the same time and Mike minor continued to pitch the way he has been and mix in Ben Sheets and Tommy Hanson WOW, that is one awesome staff and likely top team in the east.  Unfortunately injuries and baseball are and inevitability and that is why pitching depth is so  key.  Braves fans can only hope this is the second coming of a dominant pitching staff like they have in the mid 1990s.  It is too early to put these guys in the same class as future Hall of Famer's but the potential is there.

Hopefully the one game playoff between the two wild card teams does not come back to bite the Braves.  It can be interesting to see what this group can do. A strong playoff runin Chipper Jones last season would be a fitting end to a magnificent career.

Maddux Was A Master

He ended his career similar to the way that he played throughout it, quiet, professional and classy. Most players that are not only the best at their position during their time in the game but one of the best of all time would announce their intentions up to a year before so they can get all the fanfare they can and be in the news as a final Harrah! Greg Maddux is not that type of person or player an announcement at 6pm on a Friday night is about as obscure a time as one could ever choose. But that is the most fitting way for this 4 time Cy Young, 18 time Gold Glove winner, 3,000+ strikeout, 355 game winner.

Maddux was one of the least imposing superstars ever to play. A man who looked more like an accountant then a pro ball player was for the majority of his career like a surgeon on the mound. Now a days a pitcher like this probably would never get a chance to get to the majors let alone become one of the best ever. Scouts won’t even give you a look if you can’t hit 90mph on the gun. Maddux learned early that it was more about movement, location and changing speeds then velocity and that was how he became the master.
There is little doubt now that he will be the face of pitching during this era. Maybe it would have been Roger Clemens before his recent troubles but not it almost has to be Maddux. In the steroid era he was never linked or suspected of any improprieties and will possibly be the last pitcher to achieve that many wins in the new age of pitching with 5 man rotations and the way bullpens are used.

In his prime he anchored one of the greatest pitching staffs ever assembled with himself Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz with the 14 time Division Champion Atlanta Braves and was the ace of the staff in 1995 when the Braves were World Champions.

I got the pleasure of watching him pitch in Montreal during an Expos game and saw in person just what a special player he was. Hopefully in 5 years I will get to see him where he belongs…in the Hall of Fame and going in with an Atlanta Braves hat (and not a Cubs one).

Congrats on a great career and for the great memories during your time in Atlanta.