The Hall of Fame ballot, and why I've grown to loathe my vote

When he began his major league career with the White Sox in 2005, Brandon McCarthy was a 21-year-old kid looking to find his way in the game while trying to stay on manager Ozzie Guillen's good side.

McCarthy was in awe when he joined the Sox, mainly because new teammate Frank Thomas was his childhood idol.

"I was in the Big Hurt fan club," said McCarthy, who grew up in Colorado. "I was the biggest Frank Thomas fan in the universe."

The wide eyes narrowed and became much more critical as McCarthy pitched 13 major league seasons before retiring in 2018.

McCarthy is now known for expressing strong opinions on social media.

After the results of last Tuesday's Hall of Fame balloting were released and there were no inductees for the second time in the last eight years, McCarthy weighed in.

"I would have sold family members to have had a HOF career," he wrote on Twitter. "But man, everything about the HOF now is a joyless slog."

As a Hall of Fame voter since 2004, I completely understand McCarthy's take on the process.

And, I also stand with the growing number of Baseball Writers' Association of America members who have either opted out of voting or are strongly considering such a move.

What used to be a joy and honor, having a say on who enters Cooperstown's hallowed shrine, is now a serious slog.

Instead of examining a candidate's body of work on the baseball field, voters are more focused on determining what kind of illegal substances players put in their bodies while out of uniform.

That's why Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader, received 61.8% of the vote this year, well short of the 75% requirement.

Five other candidates linked to PED usage - Roger Clemens (61.6%), Gary Sheffield (40.6), Manny Ramirez (28.2), Sammy Sosa (17) and Andy Pettitte (13.7) - are also on the outside looking in and extremely unlikely to ever join the Hall.

Assigned as primary electorates by the Hall of Fame in 1936, the BBWAA is tasked with voting on "the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the team(s) on which the player played."

In addition to the steroid stigma, let's file that under integrity, the "character clause" has also made HOF voting an exercise in misery.

Let's start with Curt Schilling, who should have been a no doubter years ago.

Instead, the big-game starter is 0-for-9 with one more chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame thanks to his repugnant political views that include supporting the rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and lynching journalists.

With one more year on the ballot, Schilling said he wants off.

"The media has created a Curt Schilling that does not and has never existed," he wrote on his Facebook page after last week's latest snub. "It's one of the things that has allowed me to sleep at night. Not an ounce of that is to absolve myself of sin, Lord knows I've committed my share and will do so again. Never malicious, never to willfully or intentionally hurt another person. I was 100% accountable and still am.

"Even the thought of responding to claims of 'Nazi' or 'racist' or any other term so watered down and rendered meaningless by spineless cowards who have never met me makes me ill."

Omar Vizquel, who played for the White Sox in 2010-11 and was a rising manager in their system before abruptly "parting ways" after the 2019 season, received 49% of the vote after reaching 52.6% last year.

Why the decline? Right before ballots were due on Dec. 31, Vizquel's wife accused him of physical assault in 2011 and 2016, claims the former shortstop denies.

I voted for Vizquel this year, along with Mark Buehrle, Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Scott Rolen.

I did not vote for Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Sosa, Sheffield, Ramirez or Pettitte out of respect for the many players that I believe kept the playing field level. For the players that didn't go on social media with a blowtorch.

That doesn't make my votes right, especially on Vizquel, and I think ESPN's Buster Olney got it right with this sentiment: "Moving forward, the baseball writers would be best served by insisting the Hall of Fame apply the character clause itself. Let the HOF declare which players have passed its character test before forwarding the ballot of eligible players to the writers."

With Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz debuting on the ballot for the first time next year, with Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and perhaps Schilling all heading for their 10th and final year of eligibility, with the Vizquel controversy, it's as good of a time as any for the Hall of Fame board of directors to finally step up and take a stand.