The results of the BBWAA Component of Hall of Fame Voting were revealed Tuesday night, with Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia becoming first-ballot Hall of Famers while Billy Wagner made his 10th and final try. Andruw Jones came close with 66.2% of the vote (75% needed for induction).
That wasn’t enough for Hall of Famer and former Braves teammate of Jones, Chipper Jones, who has an idea and a misperception:
Yes, everyone’s favorite pastime is demanding preferential treatment from pinstripes.
Unfortunately, if we think about the process, the argument collapses on its own. The Yankees’ accusations of bias ignore players like Thurman Munson (12th at catcher JAWS), Willie Randolph (16th at second base) and Graig Nettles (12th at third base) sitting on the outside looking in, a much like Jones (11th in center field).
Let’s also not forget that Jones actually played for the Yankees, preparing for the final two seasons of his career.
Plus, as noted above, Jones got essentially two-thirds of the vote this year. Think about how hard it is to get 66% of people to agree on anything these days. And yet, among voters, a huge number of people agreed with Jones this time, me included.
Let’s not forget that Jones’ career fizzled after the age of 30 and he ended up being a .254 hitter with a .337 on-base percentage. His 1,933 hits would be pretty low for a Hall of Famer. There are also people who refuse to vote for him due to his arrest for domestic violence.
Again, I voted for him, but he’s not the slam dunk Chipper makes himself out to be, at least not compared to today’s Hall of Fame standard, and there’s certainly baggage.
And by the way, former players have the opportunity to vote for Hall of Famers through the Veterans Committee. This happens several times throughout history where there has been some pretty blatant cronyism (check Frankie Frisch for reference).
I’m all for current Hall of Famers having a say if they want, but the rationale for changing the electorate has to be better than my friend who is a quality but limited candidate only obtained 66.2% of the votes topped with “Yankee Biais” catnip.
