http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16531681/

 

NEW YORK - Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. will fall short of becoming the first unanimous Hall of Fame picks, and Mark McGwire doesn’t figure to be anywhere close to the necessary 75 percent when 2007 voting is released Tuesday.

 

Paul Ladewski of the Daily Southtown in suburban Chicago wrote in a column Monday that he submitted a blank ballot because of doubts he had over performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

 

“At this point, I don’t have nearly enough information to make a value judgment of this magnitude. In particular, that concerns any player in the Steroids Era, which I consider to be the 1993-2004 period, give or a take a season,” Ladewski wrote.

 

“This isn’t to suggest that Gwynn or Ripken or the majority of the other eligible candidates padded his statistics with performance-enhancers and cheated the game, their predecessors and the fans in the process. ... But tell me, except for the players themselves, who can say what they put into their bodies over the years with any degree of certainty?”

 

Gwynn and Ripken likely will vie for the highest percentages ever in Hall voting. McGwire, also on the ballot for the first time, probably will draw only one in four votes, according to a November survey of about 20 percent of eligible voters taken by The Associated Press.

 

McGwire finished with 583 home runs, seventh on the career list, and hit 70 homers in 1998 to set the season record, a mark Barry Bonds broke three years later.

 

 

Tom Seaver holds the record percentage at 98.84, set when he was selected on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.

 

Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News was among three writers who submitted blank ballots that year, joined by Bob Hertzel of The Pittsburgh Press and freelance writer Bob Hunter. Retired writers Deane McGowen and Bud Tucker did not vote for Seaver.

 

“That was the first year that baseball intervened with Pete Rose and kept his name off the ballot,” Hagen said Monday. “I just felt like that was a way of protesting. It had nothing to do with Tom Seaver.”

 

Ty Cobb was left off four ballots, Nolan Ryan wasn’t on six, Hank Aaron on nine, Babe Ruth on 11 and Willie Mays on 23. Joe DiMaggio needed to appear on the ballot three times to get in, receiving 44 percent and 69 percent in his first two tries.

 

“I’ll admit I sort of felt that sooner or later it might come my way,” DiMaggio was quoted as saying by The New York Times after he was elected in 1955. “But after failing to make it during the first two elections for which I was eligible — well, I just wasn’t too sure.”

 

Past elections also were cited by Ladewski as reasons for submitting a blank ballot.

 

“What makes Gwynn and Ripken so special that they deserve to be unanimous selections?” he wrote. “Walter Johnson, Cy Young and Honus Wagner didn’t receive such Hall passes. Neither did Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. In fact, nobody has in the history of the game. Based on the standards set by the Hall of Fame voters decades ago, is there a neutral observer out there who can honestly say Gwynn and Ripken should be afforded an unprecedented honor?”

 

Reliever Bruce Sutter made it last year on the 13th try, when Jim Rice fell 53 votes short and Goose Gossage was 54 shy. Rice is on the ballot for the 13th time this year, and he may have a better chance at gaining election next year, when Tim Raines and David Justice are the top first-time eligibles. Rickey Henderson goes on the 2009 ballot.

 

Gwynn and Ripken are baseball dinosaurs who spent their entire major league careers with one team.

 

In a 20-year career with the San Diego Padres that began in 1982, Gwynn won eight NL batting titles to tie Honus Wagner’s NL record and was a member of 15 All-Star teams. He finished with a .338 career average and won five Gold Gloves as an outfielder.

 

Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig’s ironman record of 2,130. Ripken spent 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, hitting .276 with 431 home runs. A 19-time All-Star, he won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1982, the AL MVP award in 1983 and 1991 and was a two-time Gold Glove shortstop.

 

Jose Canseco also is on the ballot for the first time. Canseco said he used steroids along with McGwire when they were teammates. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen, former NL MVP Ken Caminiti and Harold Baines also are on the ballot for the first time.

 

A player remains on the ballot for up to 15 elections as long as he gets 5 percent of the votes every year.

 

Any players elected will be inducted during ceremonies held July 29 at the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with anyone elected from the Veterans Committee vote, which will be announced Feb. 27.

I'm sorry, but Ripken and Gwynn are two of the most deserving HOFers ever.

What a self-righteous tool. Sounds like making a statement was more important to him than actually putting his balls on the line and just saying who he thought roided and who he didn't think roided and voting accordingly.

20 people didn't vote for Ted Williams, 23 didn't vote for Willie Mays, 43 didn't vote for Mickey Mantle and 118 didn't vote for Yogi Berra (who needed two years to get in).

I'm sorry, but Ripken and Gwynn are two of the most deserving HOFers ever.

 

No kidding. How many steroid users have guts?

 

I just lost a lot of respect for the Southtown.

This guy has been making the rounds on the radio this morning, and he's coming across as a massive tool. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but he also refuses to vote for people on their first try. It was comical to hear him say he can't remember if he ever voted for Gaylord Perry, who was notorious for doctoring the ball.

 

When Cal Ripken Jr. makes the Hall of Fame, can Kevin Costner give the induction speech?

Isnt this the cubs beat guy who is alway on Mike North's band of idiots show?

This guys gonna get ripped to shreds nationally

Yeah, some of those old votes boggle my mind, I don't know how you can leave some of those guys off the ballot. What possible logic is there to not vote for guys like Mays and Aaron (other than a racist non-vote, which would be pretty pathetic). I didn't realize that it took DiMaggio 3 tries to get in, that's ridiculous.

Edited January 9, 200719 yr by ZoomSlowik

Gwynn and Ripkins certainly deserve to be in the HOF. So does Harold Baines IMO.

Guy sounds like a tool who just wanted the national spotlight. "Hey look at me!"

He should have his voting rights pulled for a few years, so he can study the players and learn what a Hall Of Famer looks like.

What a douche.

Hey, he has a right as a voter to vote or not vote. To vote for who he wants to vote for and who he doesn't want to vote for. He made a statement and he has his views...so what. Ripken and Gwynn will still get in.

I can't think of many players more deserving of being unanimously voted into the Hall than Tony Gwynn. The guy was nothing but class and his numbers are undoubtedly HOF caliber.

What a jerk.

Sportswriters (and basically anyone else who thinks McGwire doesn't deserve enshrinement) are f***ing hypocrites.

This guy is on ESPNews right now and said he didn't vote for them because of the steroid era and because no one has ever had a unanamous vote and he doesn't have a big enough EGO to change that tradition.

This guy is on ESPNews right now and said he didn't vote for them because of the steroid era and because no one has ever had a unanamous vote and he doesn't have a big enough EGO to change that tradition.

 

Just a big enough one to get splashed all over the national media. Maybe he can write a book about it later.

He should have his voting rights pulled for a few years, so he can study the players and learn what a Hall Of Famer looks like.

What a douche.

 

+1

ripken could very well deserve a unanimous election, seeing as his consecutive games record

Sportswriters (and basically anyone else who thinks McGwire doesn't deserve enshrinement) are f***ing hypocrites.

 

Just curious, why?

 

Should Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry get in the Hall of Fame because of cocaine use too?

Dick Young, on Willie Mays not receiving a unanimous Hall of Fame vote:

If Jesus Christ were to show up with his old baseball glove, some guys wouldn't vote for him. He dropped the cross three times, didn't he?

 

Oh man, I love that quote describing the voting process.

Sportswriters (and basically anyone else who thinks McGwire doesn't deserve enshrinement) are f***ing hypocrites.

 

agreed. big mac should be in.

 

Just curious, why?

 

Should Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry get in the Hall of Fame because of cocaine use too?

 

neither put up hall of fame careers nor contributed to one of the most exciting baseball seasons ever. think before you speak.

Call me crazy, but I don't think McGwire's numbers are necessarily good enough to get in, roids or no roids.

 

He was a .263 career one-dimensional hitter. The only thing he did well was hit home runs while juiced up and take walks. Dude only has like 1600 TOTAL hits in career.

 

Also, no MVPs.

 

583 home runs probably won't even be in the top 25 all-time in 2020.

Call me crazy, but I don't think McGwire's numbers are necessarily good enough to get in, roids or no roids.

 

He was a .263 career one-dimensional hitter. The only thing he did well was hit home runs while juiced up and take walks. Dude only has like 1600 TOTAL hits in career.

 

Also, no MVPs.

 

583 home runs probably won't even be in the top 25 all-time in 2020.

 

Especially when you consider that steroids saved his career. It was over, and then he found the juice. Suddenly, he became a monster home run hitter again. Gee....