Goose Won't Be On The Ballot Next Year

Well, after nine years, Goose Gossage is in the Hall of Fame. I think he is deserving, but there are plenty of others who didn't get the call.
In fact, Goose is the only player to be voted in this year. Most people who get to vote for the Hall of Fame shouldn't be dressing themselves, let alone voting for one of the most prestigious honors. Let's call it "An Irritating Truth", borrowing the title from Lisa Simpson.

Why did it take so long for Gossage to gain entry? I couldn't answer that. He should've been in years ago. Why aren't the other deserving players voted in by now? I can't find any sane reason why. Let's face it, most of the old school voters have this stubborn credo of "Wait & Suffer" that they adhere to. It's complete BS.

Most of the newer voters only vote for players that they followed growing up. Here's another steaming pile of doggie excrement. The players that are deserving of entry should get in. Period. The ones who are not, should not. And there is the major problem. Who exactly is deserving? I can't give a definitive answer on that either.

I am happy to see the remaining three White Sox players are still on the ballot for next year. Tommy John got 158 votes for 29.1 %, Tim Raines got 132 votes for 24.3% and Harold Baines squeaked by again with 28 votes for 5.2%. I think all of these guys are deserving for enshrinement. I would say that even if they never put on a White Sox uniform.

Harold Baines was the cut off with 28 votes. Any player below him in voting received 2 votes or less. The players who got 2 votes are Rod Beck, Travis Fryman and Robb Nen. Shawon Dunston, Chuck Finley, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch and Todd Stottlemyre all received one vote each. Jose Rijo and Brady Anderson didn't get a single vote. If your favorite player was not mentioned in this paragraph and they were on the ballot this year, they fell somewhere between Goose Gossage and Harold Baines. Let's call it a White Sox sandwich.

Harold Baines received one less vote this year. That is a troubling trend. Hopefully, next year there will be a surge in voting on his behalf. This is my personal crusade. It may ultimately fail, but at least I will have tried. But for this year, congrats to Rich "Goose" Gossage. He is truly deserving of this honor.