Back and better than ever!

After a brief 16 year hiatus the Monroe Doctrine is back and better than ever!

The 2007 Hall of Fame voting is going to be revealed and ESPN.com allowed the general public to voice their opinion. As of this writing there were a little over 45,000 votes cast and one thing is incredibly clear. Anyone who says the fans should have a say in ANY election (and we can talk about the All-Star game at a later time) is absolutely nuts.

The way the ESPN voting is allowed is that you can vote a couple of times a day, so I understand that 45,190 different people didn’t vote, but the point is still the same. Here’s a brief recap on some of the voting.

316 fans voted for Bobby Witt. Bobby Witt! 316 times! As far as I can tell this isn’t a “Please cast one vote for me” Jim DeShaies thing. Supposed baseball fans thought that Bobby Witt did enough to earn a prestigious vote to the Hall of Fame.

542 knuckleheads felt Dante Bichette deserved enshrinement. If not for Coors Field (and Mile High Stadium to start with) Bichette wouldn’t be remembered for anything but a bad haircut and really tired looking eyes.

587 felt that Wally Joyner should get in. Joyner was a fun story as a rookie, but so was Jerome Walton and Joe Charboneau.

1038 voted for Tony Fernandez. Solid career, better shortstop than most, but certainly note worthy of receiving votes.

On the flip side, Tony Gwynn only received 88% of the votes. Now that’s enough to get him in, but what about Gwynn isn’t Hall of Fame worthy?

Cal Ripken Jr. only received 86%. Again that lets him in, and the only thought I have is that he’s hurt by being famous (in part) for going to work everyday and some people don’t think that’s a big deal.

The steroid era has begun in Cooperstown with the eligibility of Mark McGwire. Receiving only 29% of the vote, fans seem to be taking a clear stance on what they think of players who cheat. And I know there’s an argument out there that says “It wasn’t illegal before X date”. Something doesn’t have to be illegal to be wrong. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi, Caminiti and many others were playing at an improper advantage over the rest of the league and none of them deserve to have their image hanging on the wall.

Personally I voted for Gwynn, Ripken, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris and Goose Gossage.