The main 2016 Hall of Fame voting results won't be announced until January, but another tally will be be taken at baseball's upcoming winter meetings: the Pre-Integration Era ballot. This vote, which is separate from the annual player ballot, will consider only major league players, managers, umpires and executives from long ago for inclusion in Cooperstown. Which begs the question: Why?
In addition to six players (Bill Dahlen, Wes Ferrell, Marty Marion, Frank McCormick, Harry Stovey and Bucky Walters) the new ballot includes owners and executives from the Pre-Integration Era (which, as others have pointed out, should be labeled the "Segregation Era"). This means it is possible that baseball's highest honor could go to someone who had a role in banning African-Americans and other minorities from the major leagues. It's bad enough there are already such owners in the Hall (as well as Cap Anson, the "greatest hitter of the 19th century" who loudly advocated the ban and refused to take the field against black players) but to consider even more is horrible. And much, much worse than voting on players who possibly used PEDs.
The players from the Pre-Integration Era, meanwhile, have questionable credentials as well -- which isn't surprising given that they have already gone 65 years or more since retirement without being elected to the Hall. Dahlen, who reportedly was a good fielding shortstop, retired with a .740 career OPS, and his OPS after the turn of the 20th century (.657) was even lower. Ferrell might have been one of the game's best-hitting pitchers and a multiple 20-game winner (back when that was much more common), but he also had a 4.04 career ERA.
If people who were alive to actually see these candidates play did not feel they belonged in the Hall, why should they be considered again now?
Another thing that is frustrating about this ballot is that the Hall of Fame also stubbornly refuses to let the Baseball Writers Association of America vote for more than 10 players at a time -- even when there clearly are more than 10 deserving candidates on the ballot. I believe that 17 players on the 2016 ballot deserve serious consideration, but I can vote for only 10 of them this year.
That means players such as Edgar Martinez, who had a career .933 OPS, will likely be left off many ballots. But apparently it's all right for the Hall of Fame to give former St. Louis owner Chris Von der Awe a shot.
I love the Hall of Fame. Seeing the bronze plaques for greats such as Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and so many others makes my heart swell with emotion. But I don't believe that non-playing executives should be on that wall with them, especially if Marvin Miller isn't included but Bowie Kuhn is.
More important, the Hall of Fame needs to recognize that it hasn't honored enough players from the modern era. More than half of the 244 members of the Hall of Fame, 126. are white players who played all or most of their careers before 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, and when there also were roughly half as many teams and players as there are today. Last year the Golden Era Committee, which considered players whose prime years fell between 1947 and 1972, rejected all 10 players on the ballot -- including Luis Tiant, Tony Oliva and Minnie Minoso.
Does anyone seriously believe that an era without any minorities -- no blacks, no Latinos, no Japanese players -- and with nearly 50 percent fewer players overall really had more Hall of Fame-caliber players than today? That Ferrell, who had a 4.04 ERA without ever facing a Willie Mays, Hank Aaron or Frank Robinson, deserves consideration now while Tiant and his 3.30 ERA do not? That Dahlen was better than Alan Trammell?
The Hall of Fame needs to adapt. Athletes in all sports have gotten steadily better -- faster, stronger and better conditioned -- as the years and decades have passed. The 10-man ballot restriction prevents us from recognizing this and awarding more talented players a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Do we really need to add more players from pre-1900 and more racist executives when players such as Oliva, a three-time AL batting champ, still can't get in? I vote no.