January 7, 200422 yr Retired greats Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America today. Molitor led the ballot with 85.2% of the ballot (431 votes), while Eckersley came in second with 83.2% (421 votes). Ryne Sandberg, likely the most dominant second baseman of the past twenty years, missed out on the election, gaining only 61.1%. However, Sandberg's percentage increased greatly from last year's 45%. Much like Gary Carter, Sandberg will likely be elected in a year or two, as his support grows. Rounding out the rest of the top ten were, in order: Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Rich Gossage, Lee Smith (the all-time saves leader), Bert Blyleven, and Jack Morris. Former great Joe Carter was dropped from the ballot after only receiving 19 votes in his first year of eligibility. The much weaker 2005 list of first-time eligible players will be led by Wade Boggs.
January 7, 200422 yr i feel sorry for andre dawson... I think he deserves to be there, but his career avereage is really hurting him
January 7, 200422 yr it seems like everyone on the ballot should be there, some are obvious, but others you know should be there, but u can't vote for everybody
January 7, 200422 yr no not everyone on the ballot shoudl be a hall of famer. jack morris dominated the 80s. goose was THE closer before anyone else, he in many ways defined the position. Look at Bert's numbers, ignoring his win-loss record. Pay attention to something less than stats.
January 7, 200422 yr I predict Boggs and Santo (VC) in '05, Sandberg and Sutter in '06, Gwynn, McGwire, Ripken, and Marvin Miller (VC) in '07, Gossage and Blyleven in '08, Clemens and Pete Rose (VC) in 2009
January 7, 200422 yr Do you think past generations of fans felt that so many current or recently-retired players are 'future hall of famers' than we do?
January 7, 200422 yr Sandberg, Trammell, Dawson, Smith, and Carter are the 5 people from the ballot that didn't get in that are most deserving
January 8, 200422 yr Ryno got hosed... Eck was a true Elite Closer, i grew up watching him and the As and it was amazing how auto he was.
January 8, 200422 yr Ryno got hosed... Eck was a true Elite Closer, i grew up watching him and the As and it was amazing how auto he was. plus if he remained a SP he would have had a HOF career as a starter
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