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Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .
Well, you have seen us grow our site with the addition of existing Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. We have done the first three classes, so we move to the Class of 1950 who comprises:

Frank Patrick


George Richardson

Graham Drinkwater

Harry Trihey

Joe Malone

Mike Grant

Newsy Lalonde

Scotty Davidson

Si Griffis

Gang you know the drill. Check it out, and cast your votes. Look for upcoming classes soon!
The most anticipated day in Baseball Hall of Fame history has arrived, and like Al Capone’s Vault, the answer was Nothing. No PED users (or suspected users) got in, and nor did anybody considered clean. Let’s take a look at the vote, and give our synopsis.

 

Craig Biggio 68.2, 1st Year, #14 on our list.

The highest vote getter this year, Craig Biggio had 3,000 hits, though was never considered a dominating player, was a legitimate seven time All Star. Despite the glut of new talent on next year’s ballot, a 68.2 percent debut tells us that he will get in eventually.

 

Jack Morris 67.7 14th Year, #38 on our list.

The most polarizing non PED user on the ballot asks the debate of wins and clutch performances VS overall low ERA and Sabremetrics. We thought Morris would have had a good shot this year, but with some very capable pitchers entering next year’s ballot, that 7.3 percent he is shy looks like a canyon; especially considering he only moved up one percent this year.

 

Jeff Bagwell 59.6 3rd Year, #3 on our list

Is Jeff Bagwell being smeared with a potential “did he do PED’s” brush? Probably. Bagwell did move up from his 56 percent last year, but is he less of a player than long time teammate Craig Biggio? We don’t think so.

 

Mike Piazza 57.8 1st Year, #4 on our list

Never named to a PED list, but always suspected to be. This could be why the top offensive Catcher in baseball’s history failed to enter Cooperstown on his first try. Still a 57 percent on a debut does bode well for him to move up in the future.

 

Tim Raines 52.2 6th Year, #5 on our list

I nice move up for the “Rock”, as he has now gone over the 50 percent mark for the first time. His momentum is slowly growing and with and with nine more years to go, he may yet get his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.

 

Lee Smith 47.8 11th Year, #32 on our list.

The top reliever on the ballot is hovering around 50 percent….just like always. No reason to think this will ever change.

 

Curt Schilling 38.8 1st Year, #19 on our list

Didn’t you think that he was going to debut higher than this? It isn’t that we thought he would get in right away, but we thought that it would be closer than this. With the glut of pitchers coming on next year’s ballot, Curt will have to wait for the call a little longer.

 

Roger Clemens 37.6 1st Year, #2 on our list

This is about the percentage that was projected based on the AP article two weeks ago. This answers the PED question for the Hall and right now it seems like this is how the voters will think for a few years. We have gone our soap box elsewhere on this site, so you know our feelings on it, so there is no need to debate it again here. We will say that this disappoints us.

 

Barry Bonds 36.2 1st Year, #1C on our list

See above….only magnify our anger by three. Bonds should be in.

 

Edgar Martinez 35.9 4th Year, #15 on our list

Forgotten in the PED debate, is the DH debate. Edgar’s vote tally hasn’t moved up much and there is little reason to think that 75 percent of the Hall of Fame voters will ever get aboard the Designated Hitter bandwagon; at least not in our generation.

 

Alan Trammell 33.6 12th Year, #9 on our list

It seems there are constant articles extolling the virtues of Alan Trammell (and Lou Whitaker) for that matter for the Hall. It may not be working. Trammell actually lost support from his 36.8 percent last year. It is not looking good for him with only three years left on the ballot.

 

Larry Waker 21.6 3rd Year, #11 on our list

Think this is about PEDs? Nope, this is the Hall of Fame voters debating Coors Field and thin air. Walker actually lost a percentage of support this year from last.

 

Fred McGriff 20.7 4th Year, #27 on our list

McGriff also lost a few percent off his support, and unlike others who are hovering around the same support on the ballot, the Crime Dog does not get any love from writers extolling his virtues. He is just “there” on the ballot. He will probably be at the same level of support on year 15.

 

Dale Murphy 18.6 15th Year #48 on the list

For the last week, Dale Murphy’s family has been pointing at integrity as a focal point for induction. Looks like it didn’t work, and Dale is off the ballot for good.

 

Mark McGwire 16.9 7th Year #12 on the list

So…Apologizing doesn’t help PED users does it? Mark McGwire has his LOWEST total since entering the ballot. He actually said recently that he wouldn’t vote for himself…apparently more voters agreed with him.

 

Don Mattingly 13.2 13th Year #64 on the list

Maybe he can get in as the Dodgers Manager?

 

Sammy Sosa   12.5 1st Year #10 on our list

Is there an interpreter to let Sammy know he didn’t make it in?

 

Rafael Palmeiro 8.8 3rd Year #13 on our list

Honestly, a big part of us just wanted Palmeiro to go under 5 percent to spare him from this.   Statistically, he is a no brainer to enter, but of course the PED label keeps him out, but shouldn’t be higher up in relation to his PED brethren?

 

The following we had ranked, but failed to get the five percent needed to stay on the ballot:

Bernie Williams 3.3 2nd Year, #31 on our list

Kenny Lofton 3.2 1st Year, #43 on our list

Julio Franco 1.1 1st Year, #53 on our list

 

So, what have we learned? We know (officially) that PED users, or anyone associated with it, have a long and maybe impossible road to the Hall of Fame. Sure, we knew this before, but it when both Bonds and Clemens failed to get 40 percent? Ouch.

We have read writers talk about how they wanted to put more than ten names on a ballot, and others write about leaving it blank out of ‘protest’. \we know, we are going to read the same things next year.

We also know that next year gets harder. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas enter the ballot and with Bonds, Clemens and the rest of our top ten still outside of Cooperstown, our 2013 Notinhalloffame Baseball list will be the most loaded yet!

 

 



 
The convoluted mess that is the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has unveiled its ballot with limited fanfare. Of the major North American sports, it is unarguably the hardest one to follow, and the one whose self-promotion is the weakest. With that said, we are going to take a look at the ballot and the nominees for the Class of 2013.


North American Nominations (31 Nominees)
From this list, a candidate needs seven of nine votes from the North American committee to become a finalist.  Finalists will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game. They are ranked alphabetically, and their rank (should they have one) is indicated in parenthesis.



Johnny Bach
Dick Bavetta
Gene Bess
Maurice Cheeks (#20)
Jack Curran
Bobby Dandridge (#8)
Lefty Driesell
Bill Fitch
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Travis Grant
Tim Hardaway (#11)
Spencer Haywood (#3)
Robert Hughes
Kevin Johnson (#17)
Marques Johnson (First-Time Nominee) (#14)
Gene Keady
Bernard King (#2)
Guy Lewis
Danny Miles
William “Speedy” Morris (First-Time Nominee)
Dick Motta
Curly Neal
Gary Payton (First-Time Nominee) (#1)
Rick Pitino
Mitch Richmond (#13)
Paul Silas (#34)
Eddie Sutton
Jerry Tarkanian
Rudy Tomjanovich (#45)
Paul Westphal (#29)
Gary Williams

Women Nominations (12 Nominees)
From this list, a candidate needs five of seven votes from the North American committee to become a finalist.  Finalists will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game. Please note, with all due respect to the fine female athletes who are nominated that we do not rank them on our list.



Leta Andrews
Jennifer Azzi
Laurie Byrd (First-Time Nominee)
Kathy Delaney-Smith
Sylvia Hatchell
Rebecca Lobo
Muffet McGraw (First-Time Nominee)
Kim Mulkey
Harley Redin
Theresa Shank
Dawn Staley
Theresa Weatherspoon

ABA (14 Nominees)
The ABA Committee can vote in one candidate from this list as a Direct Elect into the Class of 2013.  This Direct Elect will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game.



Zelmo Beaty (#41)
Ron Boone (#99)
Roger Brown (#43)
Mack Calvin
Louie Dampier (#49)
Donnie Freeman
Warren Jabali
Jimmy Jones
Bob “Slick” Leonard
Freddie Lewis
George McGinnis (#18)
Dennis Murphy (First-Time Nominee)
Charlie Scott (#42)
Willie Wise

Early African-American Pioneers (17 Nominees)
The Early African-American Pioneer Committee can vote in one candidate from this list as a Direct Elect into the Class of 2013.  This Direct Elect will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game.



Clarence Bell
Wyatt Boswell
Zack Clayton
Nat Clifton
Chuck Cooper
Edwin Henderson
Johnny Issacs
Inman Jackson
Clarence Jenkins
Bucky Lew
Hudson Oliver
Cumberland Posey
Al Pullins
James Ricks
Paul Robeson
Eyre Saitch
William Smith

Veterans (24 Nominees)
The Veterans Committee can vote in one candidate from this list as a Direct Elect into the Class of 2013.  This Direct Elect will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game.



Carl Braun
Charles Eckman
Leroy Edwards
Clarence “Bevo” Francis
Buck Freeman
Richie Guerin (#33)
Bobby Hall
Joe Hammond (First-Time Nominee)
Robert Harrison
Cam Henderson
Robert Hopkins
Bobby Knight
Jim Loscutoff
Loyola of Chicago
Willie Naulls (#80)
Philadelphia SPHAS (First-Time Nominee)
Mel Riebe
Glenn Roberts
Guy Rodgers (#94)
Holcombe Rucker
Ken Seusens
Paul Seymour
Tennessee A&I
Max Zaslofsky (#9)


International (13 Nominees)
The International Committee can vote in one candidate from this list as a Direct Elect into the Class of 2013.  This Direct Elect will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game.



Mickey Berkowitz
Tal Brody
Jackie Chazalon
Vlade Divac (#35)
Nick Galis
Lindsay Gaze
Vladimir Kondrashin
Sarunas Marciulionis
Thiago Pasos
Manuel Sainz
Oscar Schmidt
Togo Soares
Ranko Zeravica

Contributor (21 Nominees)
The Contributor Committee can vote in one candidate from this list as a Direct Elect into the Class of 2013.  This Direct Elect will be announced in February at the NBA All-Star Game.



Al Attles
Ed Bilik
Marty Blake
Vic Bubas
Ken Cochran (First-Time Nominee)
Harry Glickman (First-Time Nominee)
Curt Gowdy
Russ Granik (First-Time Nominee)
Del Harris (First-Time Nominee)
Tom Jernstedt
John Kline
Red Klotz
Jerry Krause
Johnny Most
Billy Packer
George Raveling
Jerry Reinsdorf (First-Time Nominee)
Gene Shue
Jim Valvano
Donnie Walsh
Frank Walsh (First-Time Nominee)

The Finalist and Direct Elect announcements will take place on Friday, February 15th, with likely as little pomp and circumstance as this announcement had.
Well, you have seen us grow our site with the addition of existing Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. We have done the first two classes of 1945 and 1947, so we move to add the curiously small class of 1949 which contained only two members; that being:

Art Ross

Dan Bain

It may be a small addition, but gang you know the drill. Check it out, and cast your votes. Look for upcoming classes soon!