Barry Bloom not making any friends with his Hall of Fame choices

MLB.com’s Barry Bloom has been kind enough to share his 2012 Hall of Fame Ballot with us. Bloom’s inclusion of certain “tainted” players and his exclusion of Jeff Bagwell has been criticized by pretty much everyone with an internet connection. Bloom may be wishing he had never made his ballot public. I won’t resort to name calling like others have, but I will say that I strongly disagree with his assessment. His Jeff Bagwell – Steve Garvey comparison is a real head scratcher. TCB did a nice job with their article on the subject. I’ve linked that article below.

But wait, there’s more! Astros County provides a scoresheet detailing those who have voted for and against Bagwell. A link to a more all-inclusive ballot count can be found in the comments section of the AC article.

Matthew Pouliot at Hardball Talk (an NBC Sports blog) thinks Bloom’s ballot is zany.

Other bloggers have been even more blunt and to the point.

Back to the Garvey comparison, I have found a few things that are similar about the two. Both players started out at 3B before moving to 1B. Both have tallied a pair of divorces and made headlines with their extra-marital affairs. As for their performance on the baseball diamond, It appears most people agree that Bagwell was the superior player.

I don’t know where Bloom’s love for Garvey is coming from. Despite his homerun that propelled the Padres to the World Series, Padres fans recognize Garvey for what he is, a lifelong Dodger. Bloom covered the Padres for the San Diego Union-Tribune back in the eighties and nineties and is certainly aware of Padres fans hatred for all things Dodgers.

As for Bagwell’s chances of entering the Hall in his second year of eligibility, it doesn’t look good. Let’s just hope that some of the voters are waiting for 2013 to enshrine Bagwell alongside teammate Craig Biggio.