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Bad Behavior Could Result in Hall Snubs for Former Atlanta Braves

By Alan Carpenter

Mar 5, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves special assistant to baseball operations Fred McGriff (27) jokes with the umpires before the start of the spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves special assistant to baseball operations Fred McGriff (27) jokes with the umpires before the start of the spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 1, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Expos former player and now a Toronto Blue Jays base running instructor Tim Raines before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Blue Jays at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Expos former player and now a Toronto Blue Jays base running instructor Tim Raines before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Blue Jays at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /

This Year’s Problem

Here are the names on the ballot this time ’round (19 of them of 34 total) that have already received votes.  It’s a pretty solid group:

But while you’re mulling the idea of whether more HOF enshrinees is a good thing, don’t forget that baseball has expanded dramatically since 1960:

  • 1961 – 2 teams added
  • 1962 – 2 more teams added
  • 1969 – 4 teams added
  • 1977 – 2 teams
  • 1993 – 2 teams
  • 1998 – final 2 teams to date

We are now at 30 MLB teams.  We had just 16 in 1960.

Should there be more Hall of Famers in this era?  Yeah – close to twice as many just based on the raw number of players.

You could argue that it should not be a full doubling of the past HOF rate due to the dilution of talent.  Understandable perhaps, but it’s still very much likely that as the available roster slots expanded, the opportunities for players to excel likewise increased… and that’s not even counting the DH era and that whole controversy.

Of course, I’d also argue that baseball has substantially increased the pool of talent in the past few decades as well:  from the color barrier breach in 1947 to the expansion of players from Latin America, Korea, and Japan.  Thus as the leagues have expanded, the talent pool certainly has as well.

Yet the vote limit is 10… and it remains at ten.

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