FanHouse

The 2008 Hall of Fame ballot was released today. That can only mean one thing: lots and lots of columns from suddenly important sportswriters about why the guys they voted for belong in the Hall and why everyone else is a moron for voting for someone else. Some arguments you're sure to see in the next few weeks:

• Andre Dawson won an MVP award! And was an All-Star a lot! And won a bunch of Gold Gloves! And he's one of 22 players to have **terribly cherry picked stats here**!
  
• Jim Ed Rice could hit a baseball as far as any baseball player that can remember he lead the American League in several specific categories over 12 years. These categories were specially selected because Jim Rice lead the American League in them.
  
• Dave Parker has similar career stats to Andre Dawson and Jim Rice, but he did coke, which is like -20 million points.
  
• Mark McGwire is the only person in the history of baseball to take steroids. Don't vote for him, even if you're planning on voting for Barry Bonds in five years.
  
• Since the voters got bored and put Bruce Sutter in the Hall two years ago for lack of better candidates, Goose Gossage deserves to get in this year.
  
• Pete Rose has engaged in a varitey of acts that have stained the game and now must live with the consequences of those acts.
  

People on the ballot for the first time this year that won't be getting voted into the Hall of Fame include David Justice, Tim Raines, Chuck Knoblauch, Brady Anderson, and Rod Beck (who had the five year waiting period waived after his death) For the record, if I had a vote this year, which I definitely do not, I'd be voting for McGwire and maybe Gossage. If I had to guess, I'd say Gossage and either Rice or Dawson (but not both) will make the cut.