FanHouse Jesseorosco

The 2009 Hall of Fame headlines rightfully belong to Rickey Henderson, who was elected the first year he was eligible, and Jim Rice, who was elected the very last year he was eligible. As for everyone else, well, there's always next year, right?

The short answer: it depends.

In Tommy John's case, no, there is no next year. Like Rice, this was John's 15th year on the ballot, the most that the Baseball Writers Association of America allows before ruling a player ineligible to be included on future ballots. Now, the only way John will ever be inducted is if the Veterans Committee votes him in -- that's the same committee that has inducted exactly one player since 2001.

The best part of the entire Hall of Fame voting process, to me, is the exercise of christening/laughing at the ballot's Mr. Irrelevant. The guy who could not possibly been included on the ballot with a straight face. The Otis Nixons, the Andy Van Slykes (sorry Lackey), the Gary DiSarcinas.

I hereby declare that this year's Mr. Irrelevant is Jesse Orosco. Please observe this picture of Mr. Orosco doing the Macarena.

Today's Dugout is after the jump. Parts One and Two of this series can be found here and here.

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.

Ah 1986 ... the days of Iran Contra, ALF, and the New York Mets, who swore, drank, and pillaged their way into your hearts. Oh yeah, and they won the world championship as well (which is how their swearing, drinking, and pillaging became public knowledge).

They were music stars as well, as August of that year saw the debut of "Lets Go Mets Go", their response to the Chicago Bears who starred in "The Super Bowl Shuffle" earlier that season. Check out not only the players clowning around, but the celebrity cameos near the end, including Tony Bennett, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and a very young (and very hairy) Howard Stern. Joe Piscopo made a memorable cameo as well. Piscopo recently admitted he was a life-long Yankee fan, which basically means that I can never look at this video quite the same again. But it's still a fun watch.