On Baseball this fine January morn

The 2008 Hall of Fame results came out last week, and it's a mixed bag for me. The writers kept with the 'small Hall' concept by electing only Goose Gossage, but they also snubbed my candidates while nearly enshrining Rice and Dawson.

Here's the complete results:

2008 Election

543 ballots cast, 408 votes needed for election.

Players must receive 75.0% of the vote or higher to be elected.

Name	Votes	PCT
Gossage, Rich	466	85.8%
Rice, Jim	392	72.2%
Dawson, Andre	358	65.9%
Blyleven, Bert	336	61.9%
Smith, Lee	235	43.3%
Morris, Jack	233	42.9%
John, Tommy	158	29.1%
Raines, Tim	132	24.3%
McGwire, Mark	128	23.6%
Trammell, Alan	99	18.2%
Concepcion, Dave	88	16.2%
Mattingly, Don	86	15.8%
Parker, Dave	82	15.1%
Murphy, Dale	75	13.8%
Baines, Harold	28	5.2%
Beck, Rod	2	0.4%
Fryman, Travis	2	0.4%
Nen, Robb	2	0.4%
Dunston, Shawon	1	0.2%
Finley, Chuck	1	0.2%
Justice, David	1	0.2%
Knoblauch, Chuck	1	0.2%
Stottlemyre, Todd	1	0.2%
Anderson, Brady	0	0.0%
Rijo, Jose	0	0.0%

Having grown up in the '80's and converted to fandom in '91-92, I have no built in bias against 'failed starters', aka relief pitchers. So I'm fine with Gossage, but that 43% of the vote for Lee Smith floors me. The man held the all-time saves record for a minute and even then wasn't considered a dominant closer. That and the votes for the ever-bitter Jack Morris are a waste of time and resources. Spread the votes elsewhere.

{memo to all ex-players who spend eons fighting to get in the Hall. A) if it's that all-consuming to you, maybe you should get a life and B) if you have to fight that hard for enshrinement, chances are you don't belong there in the first place}

Rice and Dawson seem a sure bet to get in next year. They aren't the smartest choices for the Hall but they're not the worst of all time. It never hurts to have a 'name' player in the Hall I guess.

[I still hope Rickey Henderson goes in solo next year]

Meanwhile Trammell, Raines, and McGwire got no love from the writers. What a world.

* * * *

RE: Clemens . . guilty. Shut up and take the heat. Quit trying to bully the witness into submission with your money and your rep.

* * * *

The Brewers have signed Mike Cameron to play in center. Cameron, a solid glove and decent bat, should be a decent addition to the Miller Park outfield (once he gets past a mandatory 25 game drug suspension to open the year).

That will probably move Bill Hall to third and Ryan Braun to left and give the Brewers an average defense across the board - which with their bats should be a great advantage.

That said, if I was Bill Hall I'd be steaming mad. He's been shuffled around more than a deck of cards in a casino. Always the team player, he's done it without (publicly) complaining . . but does he have any love left for the organization at all?

* * *

Oh man, this next thing reeks of my Dad's quirky stat-geekiness, BUT . . . I'd like to start following Asian baseball (Japan/Korea/Taiwan) hard core this year, at least to the point where I know the stars and what teams are kicking butt.

Oh man am I a dork.

I'm hoping sites like JapanBaseball.com and East Windup Chronicle help on this score.

[great article on the myth of Japanese stadiums being bandboxes: read ithere]

Unrelated to my interest but of note anyway, former Brewers manager Jerry Royster is now the first foreign born manager of a Korean team. Read about it here.