As the ballots have been handed in, many of the BBWAA are publishing their ballots for the Hall of Fame and their explanations for them. Corky Simpson of the Green Valley News and Sun started writing for newspapers in 1958 and he retired from writing full-time in 2006 after 48 years. Someone should have taken away his BBWAA membership then, and if not then, than immediately today. That’s because he released his ballot and it features 8 of the maximum 10 votes.
His ballot is as follows: Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Tim Raines, Jim Rice, Alan Trammel and Matt Williams.
Notice a big name not on the list? How about RICKEY HENDERSON, the GREATEST FUCKING LEADOFF HITTER OF ALL TIME!?!?!?!
But sure, MATT WILLIAMS should be on your ballot. Here’s Simpson’s explanation, “Matt Williams, my first Hall of Fame vote for an Arizona Diamondback player. Matty played 17 seasons for the Giants, Indians and Diamondbacks. Nobody ever played the game with more intensity, nor with more reverence for the sport.”
Um, those are NOT reasons to be in the Hall of Fame, the HoF is for the GREATEST PLAYERS TO EVER PLAY THE GAME (and Luis Aparicio) not for someone who played hard. Now, don’t get me wrong, Williams was a nice player, he played for a long time and was fairly consistent, but was he ever one of the best players of his time? NOPE! Sure, he was an All-Star, but fuck, so was Mark Redman a few years ago…That’s simply not enough reason to include him on a ballot. Nor is leaving two empty slots when RICKEY HENDERSON IS STILL NOT ON YOUR BALLOT!
Putting Matt Williams on your ballot is a giant admission that you are an assh0le and don’t care about the Hall of Fame. Not to mention having Tommy John, Don Mattingly and Jim Rice on your ballot, none of whom deserves to be in the HoF, and I’m on the fence about Trammel.
And to further show just how completely out of touch Simpson is, with I can only imagine some sort of dementia, check out this bit from the end of his article.
“Others honored with nomination this year and who may well be voted into the Hall of Fame, include Harold Baines, Jay Bell, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Jesse Orosco, Dave Parker, Dan Plesac, Lee Smith, Greg Vaughn and Mo Vaughn.”
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!?! GREG VAUGHN! JESSE OROSCO? DAN PLESAC!?!?!?! JAY BELL! And you include Rickey Henderson in that group? Not a single member of that group who “may well be voted into the Hall of Fame” deserves even a FREE TICKET to the HoF let alone actual membership. Dale Murphy is Jim Rice but having played in Atlanta, David Cone is another good but not great player, Grace is basically Williams with doubles instead of HRs. UGH.
This makes me SO ANGRY. How ANYONE could not see Rickey Henderson as a HoFer is simply beyond me. Particularly when that person thinks MATT WILLIAMS is more deserving.
Someone take away Corky’s vote immediately and see that his ballot is rejected for coming from a retarded person.
The Slanch Report 
What’s lost in all of this is a simple, violent question:
WHERE THE FRIG IS CHRIS SABO ON THESE BALLOTS? WHERE’S MY FUCKING SABO?!
Corky, is he the star of that 80’s TV show? Take away his vote! Ricky doesn’t have tenure, Rickey has 13,14 years. No one has been as deserving of a unanomous vote since Hank Aaron.
ricky was a great player, but I’m sure attitude plays into votes a little.
Also, no one has ever gotten in with a unanimous vote. Aaron got in with 97.8% of the vote. The highest vote getter was personal favorite (or one of them, at least) Tom Seaver, with 98.8% Followed closely by Ripken with 98.5%…
anyway, if those three can’t get %100, nor anyone else for that matter, ricky certainly won’t.