Canton or Cooperstown -- which selection process is better?

[Appling]

Seeing the Pro Football HOF announce its selections today makes me wonder -- does baseball or football have the better HOF selection process?

The Pro Football HOF has this process:
1. The slate of eligible players is whittled down to 17.
2. The electors (40 sportswriters, including one from each NFL city) discuss, then trim that list to ten semi-finalists.
3. After meetings and discussion, the voters then trim the list to six finalists. (Probably the six highest vote-getters from that final list of ten.)
4. All of the voters then vote on each of the six finalists, one at a time: "in" or "out" for each of the final six. A player must get a "yes" from 80% of the voters.
5. Each year the HOF must elect at least three and no more than six players.

This year the six Football Finalists were: Gene Hickerson, Cleveland Browns; Michael Irvin, Dallas Cowboys; Bruce Mathews, Houston Oilers/Tennesse Titans; Charlie Sanders, Detroit Lions; Thurman Thomas, Buffalo Bills; Roger Wehrli, St. Louis Cardinals. All six finalists passed the 80% test so all six will be inducted.

How does this process compare that used by MLB and Cooperstown? Which process is more likely to elect deserving players -- and not elect marginal players?

BTW: All six elected this year for Canton played all or almost all of their career with just one team. When did this last happen in Cooperstown?

[Mariano_Rivera]

I dont like having to elect 3 players but other than that, yes football's process is better.

[Appling]

I dont like having to elect 3 players but other than that, yes football's process is better.
I Think there were plenty of players passed over again for Canton (Art Monk, Andre Reed, Gary Zimmerman) so choosing three doesn't seem a problem for football. In a lean year, they can always elect an owner -- or commissioner! (They passed over Paul Tagliabue this year.)

[RuthMayBond]

BTW: All six elected this year for Canton played all or almost all of their career with just one team. When did this last happen in Cooperstown?All the guys who were elected this particular year played their whole career with just one team. You have to go all the way back to the dark recesses of . . .
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2007 :eek:

[dgarza]

All the guys who were elected this particular year played their whole career with just one team. You have to go all the way back to the dark recesses of . . .
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2007 :eek:
1995 is so long ago, I can barely remember. And let's not even mention 1989 & 1988.

[Seattle1]

I think too many people typically get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame every year. I like how baseball seems more discriminating and selective.

[abacab]

I think too many people typically get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame every year. I like how baseball seems more discriminating and selective.

The football Hall should elect more players because a football team has more players than a baseball team.

I voted for the football process because they never take a player permanently out of consideration, the way baseball does with the 5% cutoff rule.

[Seattle1]

The football Hall should elect more players because a football team has more players than a baseball team.

That's ok, I would still like to see them be more selective and discriminating, imo. If it was up to me, Michael Irvin would never make it in, for example, even though I am well aware of all of the arguments in favor of him. Would like to see just the very top cream of the crop.

[digglahhh]

That's ok, I would still like to see them be more selective and discriminating, imo. If it was up to me, Michael Irvin would never make it in, for example, even though I am well aware of all of the arguments in favor of him. Would like to see just the very top cream of the crop.

So, you are saying that Irvin, compared to the WR position, isn't the caliber of, I dunno... Nellie Fox at 2B or something...

One of the main differences is between the two sport's HOFs is that the football voting body seems to look more favorably upon players who show brief periods of extreme brilliance.

[AlecBoy006]

The fact that Monk didn't get in this year makes me wanna go nuts. No, I am not a skins fan. I like the Bears, but to have 940 catches and retire number one on the all time leading receiver list and still not get in. Grrrr. But baseball's hall is crazy. If Gossage doesn't get in in 08 I'll go nuts, in a bad way. And Raines should get in, too. No matter what others say.

[jalbright]

OK folks, I can accept a comparison of the two voting systems. However, those posts which were primarily about who the football HOF has inducted have been deleted. Further transgressions of this type may be met with even harsher measures. Remember, this site is about baseball.

Jim Albright

[Seattle1]

Ok, sorry about that.

[Colorado Express]

I would love to see the baseball HOF inductees be decided by the current HOFers and a few additional select individuals.

[vasprtsfn]

With the Cooperstown process, there is no limit on number of candidates to be elected. Plus, the process is a lot simpler. With the NFL, too many deserving guys are missing out on the hall because of this rule limiting the number of electees. and there are just too many steps in the selection process.

[Appling]

I think too many people typically get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame every year. I like how baseball seems more discriminating and selective.
The Baseball process is certainly more discriminating. Football allows up to six new members every year, and requires at least three new members as a minimum.

Perhaps baseball is TOO discriminating. Dozens of deserving players were passed over by the BBWAA, but they were picked up by the VC later (along with other players that probably don't belong). Here are some players passed over by the BBWAA: Richie Ashburn, Orlando Cepeda, Kiki Cuyler, Larry Doby, Bobby Doerr, Chuck Klein, Fred Lindstrom, Johnny Mize, Hal Newhouser, Red Schoendienst, Arky Vaughn, Ed Walsh, Hack Wilson. Most of these players should have been voted in by the original BBWAA (IMO).

I like to focus on MLB PLAYERS elected to the Hall through the BBWAA process. I count 105 players selected in this manner in a period of 72 years (1936-2007) -- averaging 34 or 35 players every 25 years! Other than in that first election year of 1936, the BBWAA has chosen more than three new players only one time: four players were chosen by the BBWAA in 1955: Joe DiMaggio, Ted Lyons, Dazzy Vance and Gabby Hartnett.

The total persons in the HOF is now 254 but that includes managers, owners, executives and umpires -- plus top players from the Negro leagues -- plus MLB players passed over by the BBWAA but later chosen by the Veteran's committee.

The BBWAA process plus the MLB Veteran's Committee have together elected 201 players to the hall-- 105 by the BBWAA and 96 by the VC.[/I]. Had the BBWAA elected maybe 50-70 players in addition to the 105 they did select, I think the Hall would be about right -- about 150 MLB players total in the Hall of Fame. (Not including former players later voted in as owners or managers.)

[Captain Cold Nose]

One difference between football and baseball is the Football ballot is a composite ballot. Executives, coaches and old-timers are on it, as opposed to the three-tiered (or more, depending on special elections) baseball ballot.
Football should elect more players, as there are over twice as many players on the field, as well as having different skill sets for their players. Don't get me wrong, baseball is No. 1 with me, and I like the town of Cooperstown better than Canton, which is kind of gray. But the HOF selection process is better for football.
The voters have time to look over the ballot, and vote more than once, as it is in stages. The chances of a player getting forgotten are lesser. You don't see voters turning in blank ballots or throwing a vote or two Jim Deshaies's way. Players the caliber of Jim Deshaies are off the ballot long before Super Bowl Weekend.

[Erik Bedard]

Football generally has less Santo/Lindstrom-like glaring errors, so I'd have to go with them.