MLB: Bauman: Familiar trio deserve Hall admission

Da-Da---DA-DA! We have our first official partial HOF ballot! (As usual send any/all HOF ballot articles in to the home office...)

I have persistently voted for Rice, Dawson and Blyleven, and I will again. This is always, in the end—even with all of the data on either side of any given argument—a subjective judgment. There are essentially at least two tiers of Hall of Famers; those who are no-doubters, first-ballot picks, the greatest of the great, and then there are those players whose overall worth is widely acknowledged, but whose worthiness for this honor can be debated. By definition, by receiving substantial support for many years, but never winning this election, these three players are in that second category.

...This annual vote represents another opportunity for the voters to revisit their choices and renew the attendant debates. The fact that these debates go on is a tribute to the standards for baseball’s Hall of Fame, and the importance of what this process signifies.