The Baseball Hall of Fame has already announced that its doors will remain closed to the players on this year’s ballot. While this in itself isn’t overly newsworthy in so much as such an occurrence has happened before. What has come to the forefront of discussion is the dilemma that faces voters when they are deciding the worthy who are to be immortalized in the Hall.

The entire voting process and steroid talk got me thinking about what is truly the root of the problem affecting not only this year’s ballot but what is sure to be a decade of ballots to come. In a two part release, I will take a critical look at just what is wrong with the voting process and discuss the predicament facing the Hall of Fame. The first part here will focus on the voting process, one that uses select individuals to determine who will be forever enshrined in baseball lore.

Let me preface this by saying I love Cooperstown. It is a beautiful place to visit. The streets are lined with baseball-themed everything; it is a place where childhood heroes can be seen walking the streets among the fans, and Hall of Famers are accessible via autograph tables and various scheduled appearances. The Hall itself is jammed full of historic mementos and keepsakes from baseball’s most significant achievements. Even a casual baseball fan will enjoy the artifacts and write-ups featuring names of not only great ballplayers but also those who blurred the line by emerging themselves into American pop culture.

For those who have been to Cooperstown and had the pleasure of taking in a ball game at Double Day field on a perfectly sunny day, then you have been privileged enough to see a near celestial event. The simplicity of the game is pronounced as the tiny park holds only the most devoted while the fences tease hitters with their seemingly small confines. The stands are wooden, and there are no bad seats in the house. Even the players get in the spirit of the day as throwback jerseys are the norm to complement puffy short pants and high socks that evoke images of what ballplayers would have looked like a century ago.

This is what Cooperstown has to offer for the baseball fan: it is the experience, the fan interaction and the opportunity to transport and emerge oneself into baseball history. It is truly a shame that the City has boiled down to a singular importance being small golden plaques that hang on a wall because that in itself is only a fragment of what Cooperstown is all about.

The tragedy that has befallen the Hall of Fame and ultimately sullied Cooperstown’s reputation is that it no longer accurately represents the baseball fans it once catered to.

To get the fans further involved, each of the four major sporting leagues, including Major League Baseball, have taken innovative approaches to becoming more fan interactive. This has included on-line All-Star voting and an entirely fan-decided All-Star MVP Award. Millions upon millions of votes get cast each year across the various leagues by fans, and that is only from those who choose to be involved or have a means to do so.

As it stand now, the voting process for the Hall of Fame currently consists of members from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) casting their ballots in favour of whichever players they deem worthy. There is no fan consultation; in fact, there is no consultation whatsoever. The writers vote with their desires and that is that.

I see this as being a fundamental flaw in the election process. By no means am I suggesting that the floodgates be opened and voter cards be handed out on street corners; however, the voting populace can certainly be broadened. Why should such a small group hold such clout? Why should this group decide, seemingly collectively, that the steroid-era players be excluded?

What if the paying fans and avid followers of the sport wish to have these players included? What then? I say that a larger sample is needed to more accurately reflect the true deserving nature of all eligible entrants.

This year’s ballot saw a record high number of votes being cast; 569 ballots in total were verified by Ernst & Young,. Of those 37 eligible players, 29 received votes but no one had sufficient to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

This is another problem that is facing the BBWAA and, in fairness, is not making their job any easier: they have given themselves too broad of a field to choose from. There is no need to have 39 players on the ballot; even having 29 is too many. If the Hall is to preserve its integrity and is to remain staunch in its position that only the best players get in, then how can there possibly be so many players deserving of consideration year after year? The answer to this question is quiet simply that there can’t be.

There is no need to include the likes of Royce Clayton, Jeff Conine, Roberto Hernandez, Ryan Klesko, Jose Mesa, Jeff Cirrilo, Mike Stanton, Todd Walker, Rondell White and Woody Williams on the ballot. Now none of these players received a vote; however, why were they even eligible in the first place? The selection criterion needs to be revamped to allow for a maximum number of eligible entrants per year. If there is debate over a player on the bubble, then they can always be reconsidered the following year.

Case in point, had this ballot seen a cap on the number of eligible entrants of say 15, then players such as Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Don Mattingly, Rafael Palmeiro, Alan Trammell, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa might have been removed from consideration. Now this isn’t to say that they couldn’t be reconsidered in following years, however, just not in this particular one.

Now by looking at the dispersal of the votes cast, another alarming problem caught my eye. How is it that these select few individuals who are seemingly well entrenched in baseball and are called upon to cast their mighty vote could possibly vote for such non-deserving players? While each of the aforementioned players contributed to baseball in their own way, I cannot in good conscience think of any of them as even being close to Hall worthy. Having said that, the esteemed BBWAA group all cast votes in favour of Shawn Green, David Wells, Bernie Williams, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Julio Franco, Steve Finley, Reggie Sanders and even Aaron Sele. A total of 72 votes were cast in favour of these players; all the while, a deserving Craig Biggio fell only 39 votes shy of receiving his election.

Another problem with the current system is that it allows for players to remain on the ballot for too many years. While I like Dale Murphy, and I think of him as a really good ball player, I don’t see him as a Hall of Famer. It has now been 15 years of seeing his name on the ballot, and he still has failed to receive enough votes to gain entrance. A lower limit must be placed on the years of eligibility; if a player cannot be immediately recognized as being Hall worthy, then no amount of time should change that perception. I think that 10 years is more than adequate to allow for serious consideration to be given, while taking into account years that offer deeper and perhaps better player eligible options. Even then, if a player can’t get in when faced with other great players, do they really deserve it in the first place?

An issue for me during the voting process is that there are voters who turn in a blank ballot. This in a sense is foregoing their privileged right to cast a mattered opinion on a topic that they are paid quiet well to cover. In that regard, I propose that for every blank or spoiled ballot returned, the voter immediately forfeits future voting rights, they should be thanked for their service to the BBWAA and a replacement should be sought. This act of voting is an incredible honour bestowed to such a select few that if a member chooses to no longer participate then their membership should be waived based on a non-participatory clause.

I have spent days in the Baseball Hall of Fame looking at the various pieces of Americana history brought to us through sport. I have seen Ty Cobb’s cleats, Jackie Robinson’s jersey, Willie Mays’ glove, Mickey Mantle’s uniform, Babe Ruth’s hat and much more. The golden plaques that hang on the wall are reminders of those who were pioneers of the game, the greatest among the great and the select few who will forever live in history as the greatest ballplayers. My Hall of Fame wants only the best of the best, not those with fleeting moments of greatness or those who enjoyed brief moments of success; my Hall demands excellence.

As such a demanding baseball fan, I cannot accept the direction that the BBWAA have taken. Their voting practices are antiquated, their selection means are biased and their voting is marred with more questions than answers. Change needs to be brought, and it needs to be brought forth quickly before the proud City of Cooperstown loses the lustre it so proudly displays.

Stay tuned for the second part that will take an even more critical approach to dealing with player eligibility from the steroid era in baseball, the hypocrisy that accompanies it and the colossal dilemma that is threatening the very sanctity of the Baseball Hall of Fame.