A few years ago I tried to create an SDMB Hall of Fame. It was derailed by an argument by malcontents who didn’t like the voting structure.
Other threads:
Part 2: Catchers
Part 3: First Basemen
Let’s try again! I am some good ideas.
Today’s ballot is THE INNER CIRCLE. I’ll fully explain it in Post 2. To understand the voting, let me lay out how this is going to work - this will take months to do, and we’re in no rush. I am designing the vote to elect fewer people than are in the Hall of Fame now, but still a fair number, probably about 190.
We are going to hold a series of votes, each its own thread. They will be:
- The Inner Circle
“The Inner Circle” vote will be different from the subsequent votes in that there will be no ballot. You will be asked to vote for 15 players, any 15 players, you want. The top 15 vote getters are immediately inducted into the SDMB Baseball Hall of Fame and are removed from future ballots. Players who come close will be so noted on whatever subsequent ballot they are eligible for. Basically this ballot is meant to get the very greatest out of the way. I expect for instance that Babe Ruth will go in.
- Catchers
- First Basemen
- Second Basemen
- Third Basemen
- Shortstops
- Left Fielders
- Center Fielders
- Right Fielders
- Multi-Position and DH Stars
In the positional votes you will be presented with ballots of as many players I can think of who could reasonably get a vote. If a player noted for playing that position does not appear, the OP will note (to the best of my memory) why that player isn’t there. (For instance, you may wonder why Rod Carew isn’t on the ballot for first basemen, but I’ll explain he’s on the second basemen ballot, or whatever.) The top ten vote getters are promptly inducted no matter what percentage of votes they get, except that I reserve the right to change that number for Vote 10.
Since I am imperfect, if I forget someone obvious, please say so.
- Pitchers, Part 1
- Pitchers, Part 2
The pitching ballots will be similar to the position player ballots but we will break pitchers up into groups to make it easier to manage. There may be more than two parts. We’ll see.
- Runoff 1
- Runoff 2
In the Runoff votes, players who were highly ranked but missed election on previous ballots will be given a second chance. This is where some positions will probably be more represented than others, thus correcting the artificial balance created by the voting.
- Special Elections
We will then conduct a few special ballots, including (At a minimum) Negro League baseball. I am disinclined to have elections for broadcasters, writers, and executives, but I am open to my mind being changed if people want that.
The INNER CIRCLE ballot is further explained in the next post.