2013 Essays

A New Voting System for the Hall of Fame

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

This year the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA) failed to elect anybody to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This was partially because all time greats such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were linked to steroid use, while other strong candidates like Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza were, fairly or not, rumored to have used steroids, too. The steroid issue, however, only partially explains why nobody was elected to the Hall of Fame. The other major reason is that the voting system used by the BBWAA is flawed.