See this is why you need to change the Hall of Fame voting process. Phil Rogers writes of how he turned in his ballot but forgot to vote for Harold Baines. Nice. Nothing like attention to detail.

Says Rogers: “In early January, shortly after the deadline for voting, I realized that I had meant to vote for seven players but had voted for six. I omitted Baines through an oversight, not any change in believing him worthy of the honor.”

Well you obviously don’t think he’s that worthy or you wouldn’t have neglected to check the box. Doubt that would happen with Mike Schimdt, Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg…you get the picture. Maybe Rogers just votes for Baines because he is by most accounts a wonderful man and indeed was a heck of a ballplayer. Maybe he truly believes he should be in the Hall.

I’m a life-long Chicagoan and I grew up watching Harold Baines. He had a very long, very productive career. But he’s not a Hall of Famer.

Rogers writes: “Baines received 28 votes this time around, one less than a year ago, and the exact number needed to stay on the ballot. One fewer vote, and he would have been the new Lou Whitaker—a great player erased from the Hall ballot alongside the slightly better-than-average players who get one courtesy trip through the process.”

Seeing as Baines received only 28 votes, and Rogers–who feels so strongly about it actually forgot to cast his vote for Baines, maybe good old #3 is not Hall-worthy. Even if you really want him to be.

It’s really time that guys like Keith Law and Rob Neyer are allowed to cast ballots. Statistical analysis–like it or not–plays a tremendous role in the game today. Why wouldn’t it also help sort out who is or isn’t a Hall of Famer?

Plus the writers are perhaps too close to the situation. When you look at the list of their voting percentages, some of them obviously hold grudges or lord of their votes. “He’s not a first-ballot player” and all that garbage. How does Nolan Ryan or Tom Seaver or Hank Friggin Aaron not receive 100% of the votes?