Votes here for ... Jack Morris ... Tough omissions: Barry Larkin

Ooo, so close.

Yes on Lee Smith and no on Edgar?

Edit Yes, Larkin is obviously a worse omission. I just think it's weird to refuse the genuinely world-class hitter because he was a DH, but to let in the not particularly impressive closer. Jerome Holtzman strikes again.

Tough omissions: Barry Larkin, who may get my vote someday but only when I decide it’s also time for Alan Trammell

Ah, another piece of #### voter on a power trip who uses his ballot to "make a statement" by delaying votes for certain players until he feels it's "time."

My first thought was "What three morons voted for Lonnie?"

My first thought was "What three morons voted for Lonnie?"

That one gets me every time.

Yes on Lee Smith and no on Edgar?

I agree with that. However, leaving Larkin off and adding Morris makes it still a silly ballot. Not Olbermann bad, though.

Jack Morris is the white Jim Rice

(or the pitching Jim Rice)

(or Jim Rice without Teh Fear, but with Teh 10-Inning Clutchy Grit)

Jack Morris is the white Jim Rice

(or the pitching Jim Rice)

Rice vs. Morris career stats:

25 for 83 in 90 PA / .301 / .344 / .458 / .802 / 4 HR / 9 RBI / 1 SF / 11 K / 6 BB / 1 IBB

So....WHO FELT DA FEAR?

Barry Larkin, who may get my vote someday but only when I decide it’s also time for Alan Trammell

Look: Trammell is on the ballot. You're allowed to vote for him, and you should. There's no rule that says you can't vote for both Trammell and Larkin. So clear a little space on your ballot and vote for both of them. Is that so difficult?

Look: Trammell is on the ballot. You're allowed to vote for him, and you should. There's no rule that says you can't vote for both Trammell and Larkin. So clear a little space on your ballot and vote for both of them. Is that so difficult

I got the sense that his feeling was Trammell wasn't worthy and therefore Larkin, in his mind similar to Trammell, cannot be Hall-worthy if Trammell isn't.

So clear a little space on your ballot and vote for both of them.

Actually, he left enough room to vote for both of them without having to drop anybody else (with a space left over).

Very early raw vote results (no pct. not enough full ballots) from my HOF tally.

Obviously we need a couple hundred more ballots to feel any level of confidence, but I'm liking the early Alomar & Blyleven love being shown. However, that is offset by disappointment over the poor early showing for Raines. I assume between this weekend and next we will see a flurry of HoF ballot articles.

WHO FELT DA FEAR?

That's interesting. I would have thought that Teh Fear and Teh Clutchy Grit would counteract each other so perfectly that Morris's pitch would stop just short of Rice's bat, while Rice's swing would stop just short of Morris's pitch, putting both of them in suspended animation forever.

This would be consistent with the numerous scientific studies on the related phenomena of cats always landing on their feet, and slices of buttered toast always landing buttered-side-down. Hundreds of laboratory trials dropping cats with slices of buttered toast strapped to their backs (buttered side up, of course) conclusively demonstrated that such a cat will never reach the ground, but instead just hover in mid-air forever.

but I'm liking the early Alomar & Blyleven love being shown

Alomar and Blyleven debuted 18 years apart. There has never been 2 players elected by the BBWAA in the same year with such a large spread before (in the modern era*). The current record being 16, shared by 1954 (Maranville '12 and Dickey '28) and 1972 (Wynn '39 and Koufax ('55).

* In 1939, the BBWAA elected both Keeler 1892 and Gehrig 1923. Under the modern system, Keeler would have been either elected or off the ballot long before 1939.