Cooperstown needs to terminate relationship with the writers

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I generally like your list though I'm a little more accepting of Trammell and Eck and MAYBE Smith. They're borderline, but to me possibly on the right side of the border. Of course that brings me to my eternal argument, if Alan Trammell is voted in by the writers how the hell does Lou Whitaker fall off the ballot in his second year of eligibility???

Trammell was voted in by one of the recent iterations of the Veterans Committee, specifically the Modern Baseball Era Committee, in 2018. The closest he got with the writers voting was 40.9% in 2016 which was his last year on the ballot.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Trammell was voted in by one of the recent iterations of the Veterans Committee, specifically the Modern Baseball Era Committee, in 2018. The closest he got with the writers voting was 40.9% in 2016 which was his last year on the ballot.

Sorry I thought he was elected his last year, but still how does he stay on the ballot for 15 years and Whitaker falls off in 2.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Sorry I thought he was elected his last year, but still how does he stay on the ballot for 15 years and Whitaker falls off in 2.

It's a fair question...Trammell was a 6-time All Star & 4-time GG winner. Whitaker won 5 and 3, respectively, so it's not like Trammell was that much more highly regarded at the time.

What's even crazier is that is that Whitaker hasn't been elected in the years since....highly overdue.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Sorry I thought he was elected his last year, but still how does he stay on the ballot for 15 years and Whitaker falls off in 2.

That I don't have an answer for. Whitaker actually dropped off the ballot after his first year in 2001 when he got 2.9% of the vote. Trammell debuted the following year on the ballot with 15.7% and didn't get above 20% until his 9th year. Analytics weren't as big 20 years ago when they both debuted on the ballot so not sure why Trammell did that much better than Whitaker. Their raw numbers seem similar enough that you would have expected them to be voted on more similarly.

[Mike D.]

I just wrote an article on the new candidates for this upcoming election, if anyone is interested.

Cardlines Guide to the 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame First-Time Candidates

[frankbmd]

As Yogi Berra once said,

"Folks don't go to Cooperstown any more, its too crowded."