HOF 2022 ballot

[33Y0]

First and foremost, the Hall of Fame is a historical MUSEUM. As is the case with the steroid era and Bonds, Clemens, and others, you can't just pretend none of that ever happened. I look at it the same way I do with the stupid NCAA vacated wins. Guess what? They still happened. Just my two cents.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

What people forget about the HOF balloting is that it takes 75% of the votes to gain admission.
The vast majority of voters did vote for steroid users. 55-65%. Just not the 75% needed for admission.

Why the HOF set 75% as the number, and not 70 or 80%, I don't really know.

 

[CATS44]

I disagree with the assertion that Shoeless Joe took money to lose games.

First of all, there has never been any proof. The guy was illiterate and unable to defend himself. Subsequent statements by members of the Black Sox unanimously confirmed that Jackson was uninvolved, and that they used his name in order to make the plot more interesting to gamblers.

Secondly, if he WAS trying to lose games, he did a really poor job of it.

His slash line in the 1919 Series was 375/394/563/956.....above his career numbers. He was better in that Series than he was in his career. He made no errors and threw a runner out at the plate.

Kennesaw Mountain Landis wanted to make an example of those that did, and Jackson most likely was collateral damage.

 

[Benway]

It's a century ago, and who knows the truth really?
All I know is what I have read, and specifically in the book "Rothstein" by David Pietrusza, Jackson said directly to Landis: "Those gamblers never even gave me all the money they said they would."

Now Landis had huge faults and prejudices, but I just don't figure that he would brazenly concoct such a story to frame an innocent man.

Opinions differ, even Ted Williams lobbied for Jackson's exoneration.
Bob Feller did so half-heartedly, but only for Williams' sake. Privately, he admitted his belief in Jackson's guilt.

We may all choose our hill on these issues, but in the end it's nothing more than conjecture anyway.

That's my take!