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Frank WakefieldOne flaw with advocating a candidate for the HOF is to crunch stats to show that a certain player was in the top 3 in such and such catagories in a 4 year period, or 6 year span... That assumes that there's always a HOFer out there on the field somewhere, we need only find him.
I'm ok with Rice getting in. He was a solid player for several years. Many in the BBWA suffer from rectal craniums, and until they get their heads out they're incapable of making consistent, sound HOF decisions. They get some right, they've really screwed up on some and seriously diluted the Hall. It is now past salvation, it is hopeless.
The Veterans' Committee righted a few wrongs of the BBWA... and they also committed a few wrongs of their own. All in all, I'd rather the system keep a Veterans' Committee, the damage they do is less than the oversights they correct.
Bill James' FIRST book about the HOF, The Politics of Glory, THAT is the book to read to get some insight into what happened to the HOF. Bad reading for folks who want to cling to their biases, misconceptions, and comfortable opinions. A great book if you really want to know about the Hall.