When Andre Dawson was announced as the sole member of the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class, it caused quite a stir, to say the least. After perhaps the most controversial balloting in recent memory, fans, and writers took to their keyboards to voice their frustrations.
How did Dawson, who played his last game in 1996, become more worthy of enshrinement in 2010 than he had been in 2009? Was one incident with an umpire enough to snub the legendary Roberto Alomar? Will Bert Blyleven ever catch a break?
Two days after the results were announced, I offered my solution to the problem: an end to secret ballots for Hall of Fame voting. I wanted to know why several deserving players were snubbed (especially Alomar, my childhood hero), while some idiot voters thought schmucks like David Segui and Eric Karros were worthy of sending to Cooperstown.
Thanks to Bleacher Report’s Featured Columnists (FC), my dream has been realized. This week’s poll was a mock Hall of Fame vote, with an participants who were happy to share (and explain) their opinions with the world.
The winner (we too elected only one player to Cooperstown, but it wasn’t Dawson) and the Top 10 also-rans are featured in this slideshow, each with two explanations from different FC’s: one from a voter who picked him, the other from someone who didn’t. The full vote totals are listed at the end.
As a reminder, players have to get 75 percent of the vote to earn a spot in Cooperstown—there’s no curve and you can’t round up.
With 22 people voting in this poll, a player had to be named on at least 17 ballots to earn immortality.
Thanks so much to everyone who participated! If you voted for someone who didn’t get enough support to be featured in the slideshow, I’d love to see your explanation in the comments.
Note: I sent this survey only to the Featured Columnists who have been active in previous polls. If you are a new FC or you have changed your mind about wanting to participate, send me a message and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop for next time!