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Tuesday, December 02, 2014

The Garry Brown HOF Ballot

Brown v. Bored of Baseball Education. Our first Randy Johnson-less HOF ballot!

News item: Dec. 17 deadline set for Baseball Hall of Fame ballots. I voted for Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza and Tim Raines.

Repoz Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:13 PM | 50 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: hof

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1. Dr. Chaleeko Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:27 PM (#4853060)

The jokes about a missing Johnson or a missing Unit practically write themselves.

2. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:30 PM (#4853063)

Also: "Still hoping for Luis Tiant to make the Baseball Hall of Fame."

Take his vote and children away.

3. Brian

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:32 PM (#4853065)

Just no clue how Randy Johnson is left off of a ballot.

4. dlf Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:32 PM (#4853066)

And the blurb above is just about 100% of his HOF discussion in the linked article.

Which consists of a lot of lines.

But no substantive paragraphs.

It's a writing style I abhor.

But at least I learned that grandpa is back at the Y.

Good thing this guy has a HOF vote and Pete Palmer, John Thorn, Vin Scully, and Jon Miller don't.

5. Mellow Mouse, Benevolent Space Tyrant Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:43 PM (#4853075)

The Good: All 6 he voted for should be in the Hall.
The Bad: Yeah, about that.

6. Monty Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:46 PM (#4853078)

Is this article a parody?

Honk if you remember Haystacks Calhoun.

"Homeland" just might be the best series on TV.

There'll never be another Dandy Don Meredith.

7. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:52 PM (#4853083)

Just no clue how Randy Johnson is left off of a ballot.

Perhaps he was remembering this Randy Johnson.

8. Itchy Row Posted: December 02, 2014 at 06:53 PM (#4853084)

Here are his last two ballots:

last year- For the record, my votes went to Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Tom Glavine, Edgar Martinez, Jack Morris, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines and Curt Schilling.

two years ago- In the end, I mailed a ballot marked with votes for five of the 37 – Jack Morris, Tim Raines, Edgar Martinez, Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.

9. Davo Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:00 PM (#4853089)

He doesn't seem like he follows baseball very closely.

10. Jick Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:02 PM (#4853091)

Is this article a parody?

All that's missing is an "If I had my druthers, there would be no more world hunger."

11. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:10 PM (#4853094)

By Garry Brown | Special to The Republican

"Special," as in any of Jerry's Kids could have written a more coherent "column."

12. Dock Ellis

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:23 PM (#4853105)

This reads like the Jackie Harvey columns in the Onion about Hollywood.

13. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:28 PM (#4853108)

Is this article a parody?

Honk if you remember Haystacks Calhoun.

"Homeland" just might be the best series on TV.

There'll never be another Dandy Don Meredith.

It reads like Hank's Thoughts.

14. Itchy Row Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:31 PM (#4853111)

Apparently he writes these "Hitting to all fields" things every Tuesday. There's usually a "Honk if you remember," a "You're getting old if you remember" some high school player, what grandpa likes, and something about how much Venus the labrador retriever likes peanut butter.

15. JimMusComp likes Billy Eppler.... Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:32 PM (#4853112)

This reminds me of Norm MacDonald doing Larry King.

16. sanny manguillen Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:45 PM (#4853118)

Schilling fell off from 2014 to 2015?

17. The Yankee Clapper Posted: December 02, 2014 at 07:47 PM (#4853121)

From the previous vote listed in #8, it appears that he dropped Schilling this year. A defensible decision if his ballot was filled with better candidates, but since that was not the case, some explanation, or confession of error, would seem appropriate.

EDIT: Amphetamine-laced Coke to the speed typist.

18. the Hugh Jorgan returns Posted: December 02, 2014 at 08:13 PM (#4853140)

If he'd left off Johnson to fit in 10 other worthy names, I'd get that as he's going in anyway. Don't agree with it, but get it. It must be an oversight, surely. Johnson is one of the 10 best pitchers ever. It'd be like leaving off Musial or something, just crazy.

I like the names he has, just don't see how you cannot possibly have more. Are these the guys who were nice to him at one time?
These voters should have to offer an explanation because a ballot like this is just kind of silly.

19. Jose Is An Absurd Balladeer Posted: December 02, 2014 at 08:19 PM (#4853148)

This might wind up as the strangest ballot we see. I mean even a guy like Chass has his own twisted logic at work. I can't wrap my head around this. He gets Edgar and Raines (that's good!) but no Johnson or Mussina (that's bad!). I think Hugh is right, it's almost like a random list of guys.

20. Just drawing conclusions on the wall Posted: December 02, 2014 at 08:21 PM (#4853152)

He could have left The Big Unit off because of if Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous etc. If so, we got that over with so everyone else can safely vote for him.

21. Dock Ellis

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 08:23 PM (#4853155)

Also who the #### is George Frigo

22. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: December 02, 2014 at 08:52 PM (#4853171)

It seems like the most likely explanation is that he's in his mid-80s and isn't as sharp as he once was (or something else along those lines). He started at the paper in 1950.

23. Curse of the Andino Posted: December 02, 2014 at 09:04 PM (#4853176)

There's a prolific writer of erotica who has the same style as this guy.

Her stuff sells really poorly.

But somehow she kept getting published.

On both coasts and internationally.

24. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 09:15 PM (#4853189)

Schilling fell off from 2014 to 2015?

Evolutionist!

25. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: December 02, 2014 at 09:56 PM (#4853216)

Really strange ballot. He's got Pedro, so no bias against first year guys. He's got Bagwell and Piazza, so no bias against steroid innuendo guys (not that RJ has any, but you never know what these guys are thinking.) he's not up against the 10 man limit. He voted for Morris last year, and perhaps more importantly, Glavine, a direct contemporary inferior to RJ in almost every way. Unless he just flat out forgot, this might be one of the most inexplicable omissions ever. I can't come up with a single reason, no matter how far fetched, that this guy could use to explain the omission logically. The Hall must be so proud to have voters like this.

26. Baldrick Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:00 PM (#4853220)

Unless he just flat out forgot,

Ding ding ding ding

27. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:04 PM (#4853224)

Unless he just flat out forgot, this might be one of the most inexplicable omissions ever.

Ding ding ding ding

OK, but did he forget to check Johnson's name on his BBWAA ballot or simply forget to include Johnson's name in his "column?"

28. Benji Gil Gamesh VII - The Opt-Out Awakens Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:17 PM (#4853232)

I can't come up with a single reason, no matter how far fetched, that this guy could use to explain the omission logically.

Strong anti-SynVisc bias?

29. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:21 PM (#4853235)

It seems like the most likely explanation is that he's in his mid-80s and isn't as sharp as he once was (or something else along those lines). He started at the paper in 1950.

Which leads me to believe that Joe Falls was his idol. This column read just like every Sporting News column that Falls ever wrote. I'm only surprised that he didn't mention that pistachio was his favorite ice cream and that God broke the mold when He created Doris Day.

30. Sean Forman Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:44 PM (#4853257)

Schilling fell off from 2014 to 2015?

His thinking evolved on the subject.

31. Squash Posted: December 02, 2014 at 10:45 PM (#4853259)

This guy was probably a great cartoonist back in his day.

32. Ziggy: social distancing since 1980 Posted: December 02, 2014 at 11:37 PM (#4853290)

How do you forget about Randy-Freaking-Johnson? Forget about the baseball stuff, the man is taller than God and has a face like a nightmare. He's pretty hard to forget.

33. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 02, 2014 at 11:52 PM (#4853297)

I'm only surprised that he didn't mention that pistachio was his favorite ice cream and that God broke the mold when He created Doris Day.

So he's voting for Maury Wills?

34. PreservedFish Posted: December 03, 2014 at 12:14 AM (#4853305)

This column is kind of amazing.

35. PreservedFish Posted: December 03, 2014 at 12:15 AM (#4853306)

How long do you think it would take produce a column like this? It seems like it might be best done in stream of consciousness style.

36. Lassus Posted: December 03, 2014 at 12:38 AM (#4853312)

How do you forget about Randy-Freaking-Johnson? Forget about the baseball stuff, the man is taller than God and has a face like a nightmare. He's pretty hard to forget.

LIKE

In other news, this ballot is why we can't have nice things.

37. EddieA Posted: December 03, 2014 at 02:37 AM (#4853328)

487.8 (baseball-reference) WAR omitted in the four open slots is almost certainly the post-1937 record for a 6-person ballot, as Cobb, Wagner, Ruth, Mathewson, Johnson, Lajoie, Speaker, and Young had been elected (here I'm assuming there has always been a 10-person ballot and I just don't know). The only way to improve the WAR omitted is to drop Pedro, and that's just 1 more. Also, 9547 strikeouts for two omitted pitchers is a new record that may never be broken. The 1371 home runs for two omitted hitters was common last year. That will be broken next year with Griffeys retirement as someone will leave him off and then again if ARod retires or is released in time to be on a Bonds ballot. Overall, pretty historic ballot.

I don't know the early voting rules, but Gehrig got 22.6% of the vote while he was still playing at a high level in 1936.

38. BrianBrianson Posted: December 03, 2014 at 05:28 AM (#4853331)

6/10 = C-

Not a terrible grade, I suppose. Still, I'd study harder next time. Presumably, he left off Randy Johnson because he already had Pedro Martinez and Tim Raines, and didn't want a too Expos heavy ballot.

39. Rants Mulliniks Posted: December 03, 2014 at 07:59 AM (#4853334)

Brown's bio says his career as a sportswriter stared 64 years ago, he's got a valid excuse for forgetting Randy Johnson. I don't think the BBWAA has an excuse for giving him a ballot.

40. TJ Posted: December 03, 2014 at 09:51 AM (#4853385)

Brown said last year that it was the first time he voted for more than six candidates. My guess is he found crossing that six-person border and venturing out into the unknown to be dark and scary, so he scurried back into his comfort zone of six votes this time around. As for who he voted for, well...

Pedro- Brown worked and lives in Massachusetts. He must have recognized that the terror of voting for more than six candidates is nothing compared to the horror of ticking off Red Sox Nation by not voting for Pedro.

Bagwell, Biggio, Raines, and Edgar- Voted for them the past two elections, kept them on his ballot. That makes five.

Piazza- He and Schilling were the only other returning votes for Brown this year. To stay at six, one had to go. Last year Brown said he had voted for Piazza in the past (the record shows that he didn't vote for Piazza in the past, but what the hell, the guy's over 80, so maybe he thinks he did), which would make Schilling the latest addition, so off he goes.

Voila! A six-person ballot! No room for you, Randy Johnson!

41. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: December 03, 2014 at 10:23 AM (#4853421)

I'm shocked that this guy still has his job, since I'm from that area (went to Longmeadow, the touted state champs) and that newspaper is a shell of itself. It's like 10 pages long now, and almost all write service articles. The Boston Globe had better local coverage, and Boston is innate that anything west of Worcester exists.

42. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: December 03, 2014 at 10:27 AM (#4853432)

How do you forget about Randy-Freaking-Johnson? Forget about the baseball stuff, the man is taller than God and has a face like a nightmare. He's pretty hard to forget.

I would say maybe it's anti-mullet bias, but he voted for Piazza, who had a pretty good mullet for awhile IIRC (although not long enough to cover the bacne, of course).

43. Itchy Row Posted: December 03, 2014 at 10:50 AM (#4853479)

I'm shocked that this guy still has his job

It says he's "Special to the Republican." It might be an arrangement where he writes these columns and, in exchange, the paper lets him keep his parking space and drink the office coffee. The high school kids who get mentioned in his columns and the people who have been reading him since the Truman administration are happy.

44. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: December 03, 2014 at 10:55 AM (#4853493)

The high school kids who get mentioned in his columns and the people who have been reading him since the Truman administration are happy.

My guess is that "mentioned in a column in a local newspaper" isn't the kind of thing that high school kids give half a fart about anymore.

45. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: December 03, 2014 at 11:03 AM (#4853510)

It says he's "Special to the Republican." It might be an arrangement where he writes these columns and, in exchange, the paper lets him keep his parking space and drink the office coffee. The high school kids who get mentioned in his columns and the people who have been reading him since the Truman administration are happy.

If I had to guess (since I did something similar when I said goodbye to daily newspaper work), he scratches out a weekly column at home and he e-mails it over to the paper. He might receive $10-25. Or nothing, and he just does it because that's all he's ever done. The editor keeps plugging it in because it fills column inches and there are probably a bunch of older readers who still like reading him. This is a rather common occurrence, particularly at smaller papers.

46. sanny manguillen Posted: December 03, 2014 at 11:04 AM (#4853512)

My guess is that "mentioned in a column in a local newspaper" isn't the kind of thing that high school kids give half a fart about anymore.

If I was a young athlete, I'd keep typing my name into search browsers to see they autofill my name.

47. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: December 03, 2014 at 11:12 AM (#4853526)

The kids may not care, but their parents might.

48. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: December 03, 2014 at 11:20 AM (#4853539)

It was probably Garry Brown's pet bird.

49. DL from MN Posted: December 03, 2014 at 12:26 PM (#4853629)

scratches out a weekly column at home and he e-mails it over to the paper

I'll go with plain-paper faxes it over.

50. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: December 03, 2014 at 12:37 PM (#4853643)

Expounding on #48 and #49, the bird Randy annihilated was likely one of Garry Brown's carrier pigeons, delivering another column. After Flappy hit the dirt, readers never got to absorb Brown's thoughts the next day ("Is there a more beautiful sound in the world than stepping on ballpark peanut shells?"). Today, sweet revenge.

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