Joe DiMaggio

Baseball Hall of Fame guideline question?

Players that have banned from baseball by the commissioner are ineligible to be on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. What do you think of a committee to review this list and have the power to put these players on the ballot?

Public Comments

1. what good would that do? they would all be YES men / women to the commissioner.
2. The ineligibility clause is the Hall's own policy. If it wants, it can overturn it (technically there's a board of directors, but they jump when Jane says to, so it's entirely up to her), or create a review committee, or whatever it likes. The ineligibility clause does not at all bother me, as bad decisions -- and it takes rule-breaking to earn permanent ineligibility, and breaking rules that include, clearly defined, that harsh a sanction is pretty much always a bad decision -- should have bad consequences.
3. Such a committee would be just another hot air factory and anyway the only person who could appoint such a committee would probably be, Guess who? The Commissioner. I think the present way of handling transgressors of baseball's eligibility rules are working just fine.
4. I would be in favor of such a review committee. Any such decision should be subject to periodic re-examination. Forget Pete Rose and the impending steroid issues for a moment. Doesn't Joe Jackson deserve at least a review? His performance during the 1919 series certainly appears to have been in the interest of his team, and it doesn't seem as if he gained financially. His exclusion is based on the presumption of prior knowledge of the fix. Given what we know now, his case should be reviewed.