Hall of Fame Voting: What Are Some Baseball Writers Thinking?

The Baseball Writers Association of America spoke Wednesday and decided not to elect anyone into the Hall of Fame. I don't have a problem with no one going in, but I must take exception to the thought process that went into the voting.

First, why do some writers insist on not voting for someone just because they're on the ballot for the first time? For example, Craig Biggio finished with 3,060 hits and was a seven time All-Star. He also transitioned from catcher to second baseman and won four N.L. Gold Gloves. Will his credentials look better next year or in 2015 if he's still not inducted?

Biggio, along with Mike Piazza, may have been unfairly grouped into fellow steroids era first-time nominees Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. We know some voters refused to vote for Bonds, Clemens and Sosa based on their steroid allegations, but to put Biggio and Piazza into this group is wrong.

Neither player was included in the Mitchell Report or suspected of taking steroids, and some thought they would be first-time inductees after they retired. Now, several voters want to claim they are guilty by association.

Finally, we seriously need to question some writers who vote for former players who have no chance to make the Hall of Fame. I have nothing against former pitcher Aaron Sele. He had a good career, but he's as close to getting into the Hall of Fame as Australia is from Cooperstown.

Sele received one vote despite a 148-112 career record and a 4.61 ERA. He was also 0-6 in the postseason. Perhaps you can put Sele in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame for his 19 wins in 1998. But to vote for him for Cooperstown is ridiculous. 

Will we have Hall of Fame inductees next year? I think so. Will we still have writers making head-scratching decisions with their votes? Unfortunately, that is a given each year.