My Hall of Fame picks -- and why I voted for Mark McGwire but not Rafael Palmeiro

Squawker Jon and I, as part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, made our own Hall of Fame votes last week for the organization. And the BBA membership as as a whole picked Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven, the same results as the Baseball Writers of America's official vote.

Anyhow, here are my picks, in alphabetical order:

Roberto Alomar
Jeff Bagwell
Bert Blyleven
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Alan Trammell

There was a whole to-do in the news recently about whether the BBWAA will elect players connected to, or suspected of, using steroids. I had no problem voting for admitted steroid user Mark McGwire or suspected juicer Jeff Bagwell, but I drew the line at Rafael Palmeiro. Telling Congress you never used steroids, complete with all that finger-wagging, and then testing positive will do that for you. Plus, this is an inexact science, but while McGwire and Bagwell were considered among the greatest players of their era, Palmeiro never really was.

My own opinion is that I won't rule somebody out just for using steroids, unless it's the only reason for their success. I can't see the point of a future Hall of Fame without an A-Rod, or a Barry Bonds, or a Manny Ramirez -- they were all superstar players before they ever touched anything. Unlike, say, a future catcher drafted in the 62nd round as a favor to his godfather (sorry, Squawker Jon!) At the same time, I can understand why some BBWAA writers feel differently.

But here's the thing. There was such a media firestorm recently over the idea of BBWAA voters not voting for Jeff Bagwell because they suspected him of being chemically enhanced. I think an even bigger issue is going to be when it is revealed that voters picked at least one person for the Hall who did steroids. According to Jose Canseco, who has never been wrong on this, it already has happened. And it could happen again in the future. Then what happens?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Outrage! George Steinbrenner snubbed in Hall of Fame vote

Math question for you: When is three greater than seven? Answer -- when it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame, where a team of voters elected MLB executive Pat Gillick and his three rings, over George Steinbrenner and his seven World Series titles.

I didn't think that Yankees Billy Martin, Ron Guidry, or Tommy John, who were also on the ballot, were worthy of Hall of Fame enshrinement, but I certainly did think Steinbrenner deserved to be in the Hall. He was only one of the most important owners in baseball histoyerry, who changed the game.  But Dave Concepcion gets more votes than him? Spare me.

Johnny Bench, Concepcion's Reds teammate and one of the committee members, said:

"Some people thought it was too early (for Steinbrenner to be elected),'' Johnny Bench said. "I believe he certainly will be (elected at some point).''

This is sloppy logic. To put it bluntly, Steinbrenner is dead now, and he will be dead three years from now, the next time the committee votes. Why not vote him in now, instead of in 2013?

Then again, what else should we expect from a committee that still won't acknowledge that Marvin Miller deserved induction, too?

I haven't seen a list of who in the committee voted for whom, but my brother pointed that Gillick was an executive for three teams: the Toronto Blue Jays, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Philadelphia Phillies. And there were three ex-Orioles players on the committee, as well as an Orioles exec, a Toronto writer, and a Phillies exec. Here's the list of voters:

The committee is comprised of Hall of Fame members Johnny Bench, Whitey Herzog, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Frank Robinson, Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith; major league executives Bill Giles (Phillies), David Glass (Royals), Andy MacPhail (Orioles) and Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox); and media members Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Tim Kurkjian (ESPN), Ross Newhan (retired, Los Angeles Times) and Tom Verducci (Sports Illustrated).

The New York Yankees may be the most storied franchise in MLB history, but they couldn't get even one person with a Yankees connection on the committee, unless you count (and I don't!) Tom Verducci, Joe Torre's co-author? How does that work?


Anyhow, I'm peeved!

Squawker Jon accused me of insisting that there needs to be a "Yankee seat here,"  to which I say, "How is it that there are multiple Orioles, Reds, and Cardinals as members on the committee? Yet the Yankee won seven rings in the post-1973 timeframe of the era the group was voting on, and don't have a single voter?" It figures.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Will A-Rod make it into the Hall of Fame?

I wrote something for The Faster Times about Alex Rodriguez's 600th homer, and whether A-Rod will make it into the Hall of Fame. Eighteen months ago, I thought there was no way Rodriguez would make it into Cooperstown, after he admitted to using steroids. Now, I'm not so sure.

After all, who would have thought fifteen years ago that people would talk about how George Steinbrenner should be a Hall of Famer? And just five years ago, it was more likely to see Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden honored at Yankee Stadium's Old Timers' Day, as opposed to anything connected with the Mets. Now they're the latest members of the Mets Hall of Fame.

Anyhow, I think A-Rod will eventually make it into the Hall. Read my piece to see my thoughts on the issue.

What do you think? Tell us about it!