Lebatard and HOF voting

[Dave Gray]

I see him taking enormous amounts of guff for his "giving away his vote".  I don't understand the outrage.  It seems that he's just exposing it for how dumb it is.  Espouse.

[Phishfan]

I have been a member of "selective socieities" in that you had to meet certain criteria and be chosen as a representative of that society. Being a member of such a group creates a sense of pride and I can understand those people being upset with an "insider" not only bringing in "outsiders" but making a mockery of the group.

That said, I sense the frustration in the HoF voting procedures but he basically slapped other voters that are proud to be in a select group in their faces.

[MaineDolFan]

I see him taking enormous amounts of guff for his "giving away his vote".  I don't understand the outrage.  It seems that he's just exposing it for how dumb it is.  Espouse.

It is a dumb process, but it wasn't his vote to give away.  Thus, he won't be allowed to vote any longer.

[Dave Gray]

I'm fine that he isn't allowed to vote anymore and it's expected.  I also understand why the establishment is upset about it.  But why fans?

[Sunstroke]

I understand the principle behind LeBatard's giving the vote to Deadspin in protest of what he feels is the hypocrisy of the Hall of Fame voting process, but I still think it was a stupid thing to do. If you really feel like steroid-suspect players should be in, then vote them in and lobby for them to be voted in. He has his own TV and radio show, so he certainly has the platform to lobby from. By giving the vote away, he loses the vote entirely and can no longer take an active part in trying to fix the perceived hypocrisy.

[Dave Gray]

^ That's a fair point, but if Lebatard's point is that the voting is the problem, you don't solve that by voting.  If I'm reading it right, he's protesting the system, not the result.

[EDGECRUSHER]

It wasn't just steroid players, but the sanctimonious schmucks who run the BBWAA. There is an unwritten but widely acknowledged rule that since Babe Ruth didn't get 100% of the vote, then no one deserves it. This is why, you will see obvious choices like Greg Maddux not reach 100% because at least one old writer will leave him off their ballot.

They rarely acknowledge stats except the obvious like Wins and will elect players based on sentiment. Mike Mussina had better stats than Tom Glavine except for wins and ERA, yet he won't ever get elected while Glavine was an easy choice. They ignore what league they played in, ballparks, ERA+ and all stats that everyone uses now except for the senior citizens who still live in the 50's. LeBatard was protesting the whole process.

For the record, Mussina was the Yankee I liked the least, but if Glavine gets in, then so does he.

[Spider-Dan]

A BBWAA writer turned in a completely blank ballot this year just to make sure no one got 100%.

It seems silly to me that they give LeBatard a lifetime ban for giving away his vote, yet many writers poll their readers to get their opinions.  Had LeBatard directly posted to Deadspin himself and said "Tell me who to vote for on my HOF ballot," this is a non-issue.

[Sunstroke]

^^^ If LeBatard had done that, not only would it be a non-issue, he would still have a vote next year.

I still think it was a weak and ineffective form of protest...

[EDGECRUSHER]

I honestly don't think he was protesting as much as saying "You are a bunch of assholes, I'm out of here". He knew what he was doing and he knew it would be a news story that didn't involve any change.

[MaineDolFan]

He knew he would get tossed.  He gave an interview stating he expected to be.