Call for the Hall

Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn are the newest inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ripken garnered 98.5% of the vote, coming just short of Tom Seaver’s record breaking 98.84 percent. It was the highest voting percentage ever for a position player. I think it’s pretty obvious that Ripken would have surpassed Seaver, but many abstained from voting as it wouldn’t be fair to vote for anyone in the “steroid age.” I could see this if either of the two (Ripken and Gwynn) had ever been accused of abusing steroids, but come on. Be a man and make a decision! So basically, these sportswriters are never going to vote again, because I don’t see the steroid age coming to a close anytime soon! Why waste their ballots? Looks like the boys from ESPN.com might agree with me. (Photo thanks to www.orioles.com)

Anyway, kudos to Ripken and Gwynn (but mainly Ripken, as he is my man and always will be). I will see them both when I make the trek (albeit short) to Cooperstown on July 29th for induction day. Those beautiful blue eyes might look slightly older and haggard, but I will still fight tooth and nail to get close to them anytime, not just Induction Day!

Note to the haters: I’ve read a lot about people saying that if it weren’t for “The Streak” would Cal be in the Hall? (My answer: Hell yes) I’ll pose another question: If McGwire hadn’t hit all those home runs, would he have even been nominated? Think about it.

To answer the question of whether Cal should be in the Hall, I have to hand it to my nemesis, Peter Gammons: "I do think he's the most underrated, great defensive player that I have ever covered in terms of understanding hitters, the relationship between pitchers and hitters, positioning, doing things right. The other thing that can't be underestimated is how he became such an icon, that he became the model for millions of kids in this country in how to play the game right, in how to do things right. That really stands for something." And Gammons isn't the only one: "To me, he's a slam dunk even without the streak," said Ken Rosenthal, who covered Ripken with The Baltimore Sun for more than a decade and now works for FOXSports.com. "He proved that a tall man could play shortstop, enabling players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to follow.

Goose Gossage was just a few percentage points shy of getting in and Mark McGwire didn’t even make a blip on the Hall of Fame radar with 23% of the vote, which I think is exactly what ESPN had projected he’d get. Do those folks know something we don’t?

He didn’t break records with his induction percentage, but I’m still insanely proud of my man, and I promise to bawl my brains out on July 29th. No one is ever really a shoo-in for the Hall, so congratulations to both Ripken and Gwynn. They are both role models in the sport and I’m glad the world sees it that way.