FanHouse JimRice

I don't know if you know this or not, but since he's commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig seems to think this gives him special privileges that nobody else in America is entitled to. Why, as commissioner of baseball he's not bound by the ex post facto laws of our society, which means he's allowed to suspend Alex Rodriguez for breaking rules that weren't yet in place.

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You don't have to look very hard for the player who will take Jim Rice's place as a lightning rod at the top of the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot. Just look one spot down in this year's voting and ready yourself for the same arguments all over again.

Andre Dawson's career numbers aren't very impressive. Dawson played before the "steroid era" and has to be judged differently because of it. Dawson has a mediocre on-base percentage. Dawson didn't play in a time when on-base percentage was valued. Dawson's numbers don't merit inclusion to Cooperstown. Numbers can't represent how feared a hitter Dawson was during his career.

Every one of those arguments raged about Rice's candidacy and they'll all be revived when discussion begins about Dawson in advance of next year's ballot. But, just like Rice, the biggest story isn't about any of those arguments.

For better or worse, this is Jim Rice's moment in the sun. The former Red Sox outfielder was elected to the Hall of Fame in his final try last week, and now everyone wants to hear what he has to say about anything and everything, no matter how misguided it is.

Enter intrepid Newsday reporter David Lennon, who asked Rice about failing to win a World Series during his playing career and got an answer that seems both faulty and unbecoming of a guy about to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Of course, that's just one of the revelations that the two newly-elected members of baseball's Hall of Fame both admitted to Tuesday night while doing the Top 10 list on the Late Show with David Letterman. I have no idea how Alex Rodriguez is going to react when he hears the news, but, on the bright side, it seems as though sleeping with Madonna does improve your Hall of Fame resume. Jose Canseco has hope! (Hat tip to SPORTSbyBROOKS)

For every jubilant call received by a new member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, there's someone waiting by a phone that just won't ring. This year that person is Andre Dawson, who received 361 votes, 43 shy of the number he needed for election. He shouldn't fret too much, however, as there's only been one player, Gil Hodges, who ever got more than 60 percent of the vote and didn't get elected.

Matt Snyder did an excellent job of laying out the relevant arguments about Dawson this morning, particularly that it is very difficult to justify a vote for Jim Rice, who got in today, and withhold one from The Hawk. We won't go over them again here, except to say that I'm not enamored of either man's candidacy.

Congratulations are in order for Jim Rice, who, after 15 long years of waiting, was finally elected to the Hall of Fame Monday.

Rice's candidacy has been debated ad nauseam the last few years, with rigid statistical analysts citing his mediocre on-base percentage and poor numbers away from Fenway Park as cause to keep him out and equally rigid supporters, most of them writers who covered Rice when he played, lauding his presence in the batter's box and status as the "most feared" hitter in the American League for much of his career.

Regardless of where you come down in the Rice debate (Personally, I would not have cast a vote in his favor), it's impossible not to feel good for him. Getting as close as he did on the previous 14 elections, and then being forced to wait another year had to be tougher in many respects than falling off the ballot right away.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is expanding to include the giant resume of Rickey Henderson. Much to the chagrin of Corky Simpson -- who is "not a Rickey guy" -- Henderson easily cake-walked to induction in his first year of eligibility, garnering a whopping 94.8 percent of the vote.

Joining the stolen base, walks, and runs scored king will be Red Sox slugger, Jim Rice.

Everyone likes to debate whether their favorite player is worthy of the Hall of Fame, but there are fewer than 600 people in this country who actually get to make that decision. Later this afternoon, the esteemed Baseball Writers Association of America will make their collective opinion known, revealing the results of this year's voting.

Only 23 players appeared on this year's ballot, the fewest ever, although voters are free to vote for any of the 60 players who are eligible. There are too many eligible candidates to mention here, but here are some names you should be looking for during today's announcement.

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The results of the baseball Hall of Fame voting will be revealed Monday (2:00 PM ET), and there's a good chance Jim Rice will finally make it. Andre Dawson almost certainly will not. While I believe Rice has a good case to be in the Hall of Fame, I am left wondering how he's become so much more qualified than Dawson -- at least by the electorate. Really, if you factor in all aspects of play, they are equally deserving of entry into Cooperstown.

Let's take a look at the case of Rice and compare him to Dawson.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

The 2009 Hall of Fame ballot was released Monday, and with it is certain to come heated debate right up until and after the voting results are revealed on Jan. 12, 2009. This year's class of candidates is similar to last year's, in that it's a shallow group.

There is only one sure-fire Hall of Famer among the 23 candidates, which means this is a critical vote for the borderline players who have been up for election on multiple occasions. Now is the time for those borderline guys to get over the top or make a big push to lay the groundwork for election in future years.

After the jump is a breakdown of the ballot, complete with what I think will happen and what should happen with this year's class of Cooperstown contenders.