While others debate whether Mark McGwire should be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is another issue regarding Hall of Fame voting that bothers me more than the “possible steroid users in the Hall” debate.  

The fact that there are members of the Hall of Fame committee that did not vote for Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken Jr. to be enshrined at Cooperstown is a problem.  I know, I know, Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected anyway, and both received over 97% of the vote.

However, the fact that Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected is not the point.  Ripken and Gwynn are in that rare group of professional athletes where there is absolutely no debate about their Hall of Fame credentials. They, along with other elite players like Tom Seaver, Barry Sanders, and Joe Montana should have received 100% of the vote. Some players are just that dominant; they’ve had that much of an impact on their sport that deciding on voting yes for them should take about .03 seconds.  Seriously, how can anyone check off the “no” box when Jerry Rice comes up for enshrinement?  The same goes for Greg Maddux.  There is no logical reason why they shouldn’t be unanimous selections to enter their respective Halls of Fame.

But no player ever gets 100% of the vote and I don’t think it will ever happen.  Hank Aaron is the all time leader in homeruns. How could anyone not vote for him?  But someone didn’t.  The fact is that there are members of these committees (many of whom are current or former sports writers) in all sports, using their vote as a weapon to hold a grudge against a player or as a tool to express their personal beliefs.  Some members just believe that no player should ever be elected the first time they are on the ballot. Whatever the reason, there are members of Hall of Fame committees abusing their power, and it’s just not right.