Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame balloting is completely out of control. This began years ago when I returned home one night, made myself dinner, and sat down in front of the television where I listened to Sean Casey telling me why Craig Biggio is a deserving Hall of Fame candidate. This was back in 2014 when gritty pitcher Jack Morris was still left languishing in a list of hopefuls. Getting to Cooperstown requires something more than statistics. Craig Biggio was a very good player and sometimes a great player. He did collect 3,000 hits. Sadly, 3,000 hits used to mean a lot more as did 400 home runs before the game’s hyper-powered leanings toward offense. The actual game used to take center stage in the days before launch angles, frivolous April celebrations at home plate, and protective goggles were proactively supplied for postgame champagne celebrations after a wild card victory. I remember Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski taking what seemed like months attempting to reach hit number 3,000, and when he finally grounded that ball into right field off of Jim Beattie and the dreaded Yankees for that milestone, it actually meant something.
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Thoughts on the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
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Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame balloting is completely out of control. This began years ago when I returned home one night, made myself dinner, and sat down in front of the television where I listened to Sean Casey telling me why Craig Biggio is a deserving Hall of Fame candidate. This was back in 2014 when gritty pitcher Jack Morris was still left languishing in a list of hopefuls. Getting to Cooperstown requires something more than statistics. Craig Biggio was a very good player and sometimes a great player. He did collect 3,000 hits. Sadly, 3,000 hits used to mean a lot more as did 400 home runs before the game’s hyper-powered leanings toward offense. The actual game used to take center stage in the days before launch angles, frivolous April celebrations at home plate, and protective goggles were proactively supplied for postgame champagne celebrations after a wild card victory. I remember Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski taking what seemed like months attempting to reach hit number 3,000, and when he finally grounded that ball into right field off of Jim Beattie and the dreaded Yankees for that milestone, it actually meant something.