Courtesy of Craig Calcattera for both links, we have Ken Davidoff of Newsweek explaining why he is voting for Jeff Bagwell this year, just like he did last year:
↵↵↵Think of it this way: At the risk of sounding pompous - ah, forget it, I know I sound pompous - my role as a Hall of Fame voter is to act as a judge and abide by the laws on the book. I can't be making up my own laws. And the baseball laws, prior to 2004, stated that you could pretty much do what you wanted on the illegal PED front.
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It is not a stance I totally agree on, but props to Davidoff for not being dick like a lot of sportswriters out there.
↵Number two, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, who is the more interesting of the two. He basically admits that he was wrong, or perhaps unwise to leave Bagwell off his ballot last year and kudos for admitting to a mistake. Hopefully others will follow suit:
↵↵↵Ignoring drug use seems unconscionable. Voting for Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire or Manny Ramirez would cheapen the Hall of Fame. But not voting for somebody based only a hunch is worse. It's baseball McCarthyism.
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I don't see Bagwell getting 75% this year, but he might nudge a mite closer. When compared to the class of 2013, a few more writers might see his nose as being considerably cleaner than others, and he may claw in on Craig Biggio's coat tales.
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