flavum

Here it is...

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 12:26 PM) I'm so nervous. I know it's looking good but it's the older voters I worry about. C'mon, do something right. I hope the only questions are: Will Biggio sneak in? Will Palmeiro and Sosa fall off the ballot?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) How long before the 2pm announcement do they start calling the players? I don't know, but that's why I looked up Frank's son's Twitter to see if he gives up anything. He may be getting the call right about now.

Basically, Frank needs to be on 2 out of 3 of the unknown ballots. Until Jeff Idelson says the Hall welcomes 3 new players (or 4), I'm not 100% confident.

Sterling Thomas rooting for his dad... https://twitter.com/SterlingT35/status/420944422725906432

174 out of 194 Frank would need 67.5% of the remaining 375 ballots. 253 out of 375. He's got to get in, right?

Frank is at 154-170. 90.6% The percentages are coming down, but I think Frank is safe. Biggio at 78.8%. Sosa and Palmeiro falling off the ballot is a strong possibility. Larry Walker is way down there too. Even though I wouldn't vote for him, I hope he doesn't fall off the ballot.

I agree with Schoenfield there on Lee Smith. Closers have to blow it out of the water to get in the Hall. Truthfully, after Rivera gets in, they should close it off for the under 80 innings pitchers. I don't even want Trevor Hoffman in even though he will.

When you have 550-600 people making a decision like this, there are always going to be a handful of nut jobs. Focus on the positive of who gets in.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) For me it really seemed to happen with the 1987 rookie race. What happened that year blew away everything that had happened before it in all MLB history. I can agree with that. Wally Joyner admitted to some stuff later on in his career. But I think it really went crazy in the second half of the 90's. edit: Wally Joyner was before 87. The 86 race was Joyner and Canseco, so maybe that was the year you meant.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) What's stupid is that two of the best seasons Morris had came in his late 30s in 1991 & 1992, when the PED had already begun. So he's not consistent at all. To me, the steroid era ballooned after 1993. Basically 1994-2002/2003. Obviously there was use before that and after that, but it got out of hand in the second half of the 90's. I'm not going to get into a big thing with Morris. He's more of a borderline case than people want to give him credit for, and that's fine. Close but no cigar it looks like. But if this guy always voted for Morris and not Trammell or Raines in the past. then at least he's consistent with his process--which is a dumb process. I have a bigger problem with leaving blank spaces and leaving off Bagwell if you voted for Piazza, or leaving off Mussina if you voted for Glavine.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:24 AM) We have found the asshole. Ken Gurnick, Dodgers beat reporter on MLB.com, did not vote for Greg Maddux. In fact, he refuses to vote for any player who happened to play in the PED era. He voted for one player, Jack Morris. Gurnick should not be allowed to ever attend another baseball game in his life. While it's stupid, at least it's consistent if that's his process. To me, Maddux, Glavine, and Thomas (and maybe Biggio) are getting in tomorrow. And that should be looked as a positive thing rather than focusing on a handful of crackpot voters and steroids users.

Of the ballots not accounted for yet, Frank would need to be on about 69% of them. Jack Morris would need to be on about 81% of them. I'm still sticking with Biggio falling just short.

With 30 pro innings, maybe Danish shouldn't care about one person's opinion about a meaningless list. Go Kannapolis. Start 27 games, and earn the right to go to Winston-Salem in 2015. There's your list.

https://twitter.com/danish_Tyler7/status/420262165652963328 Another reason I don't like prospect lists. Go to A ball> Perform. Go to High A> Perform. Go to AA> Perform. Go to AAA> Perform. Go to MLB> Perform.

Jerry Coleman, Padres announcer, died. Too bad. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/...as-passed-away/

I liked this Hall article from an older voter. Entertaining. http://www.golferswest.com/all-sports-opin...edictions-hold/

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 06:51 PM) Are you sure that was Paul Konerko and not Robin Ventura? Oh snap. If anything good comes out of Konerko watching a lot of baseball this year from the bench, he'll probably know if he ever wants to manage someday.

Since it's Hall of Fame season, I'm going to vent a pet peeve....misspelling common baseball names... Maddox, Clemons, McGuire, Trammel. Stop it. And if you still write Alexi Ramirez, you need to be punched.

The Tribune writers took the death blow to Piazza. I'm still saying Biggio is going under 75%. I also think Sosa, Palmeiro, and maybe McGwire go under 5%, which would be great. Updated: Jan.4 - 1:45 ~ 123 Full Ballots ~ (21.6% of vote ~ based on last year) 100 - Maddux 97.6 - Glavine 91.1 - F. Thomas 81.3 - Biggio ——————————— 71.5 - Piazza 64.2 - Bagwell 61.8 - Morris 60.2 - Raines 41.5 - Bonds 40.7 - Clemens 39.0 - Schilling 31.7 - Mussina 25.2 - Trammell 24.4 - E. Martinez 22.8 - L. Smith 15.4 - Kent 13.0 - McGriff 11.4 - L. Walker 9.8 - McGwire 7.3 - S. Sosa 6.5 - R. Palmeiro

This is pretty cool...grading each writer's ballot, with links to their columns and/or list of votes. http://tangotiger.com/index.php/site/artic...ect-hof-ballots

The Tribune writer's picks are in: Voting for 6, 7, or 8...I just don't get it. Some truly awful ballots. https://twitter.com/RRepoz I wouldn't be surprised if Fred Mitchell voted for Kent as a favor to Mark Gonzales, who is a Bay-area backer.

Frank 103/114 -- 20% of the ballots 100 - Maddux 97.4 - Glavine 90.4 - F. Thomas 81.6 - Biggio 72.8 - Piazza 65.8 - Bagwell

This Garry Brown guy voted for Morris, Raines, Bagwell, Biggio, and Edgar Martinez last year. So he voted for Biggio on his first ballot, but not Frank Thomas.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 06:08 PM) If this is the Gary Brown referred to in the twitter link , what did he ever do to deserve a ballot in the first place? Lol http://m.bbref.com/m?p=XXminorsXXplayer.cgiQQid=brown-001gar It's Garry Brown. http://connect.masslive.com/user/gbrown413/posts.html Been in the BBWAA since 1977.