I think Cal also gets consideration for his "Ambassador of the Game" status.

That didn't help Buck O'Neill, the bastards

I think Cal also gets consideration for his "Ambassador of the Game" status. I agree that he wasn't a dominate player, but a very good player for a long time. I don't see why anybody WOULDN'T vote for him on the first ballot unless they can't get off their high horse (like Ladewski).

Ripken was the best SS in baseball for a decade. I think that qualifies as dominant.

The part that I didn't like about Golic's argument was when the conversation shifted to performance enhancers. He asked Ladewski in so many words if he would vote for Palmiero, and Ladewski said no because he cheated. Then Golic brought up Gaylord Perry. I hate this analogy.

There is a HUGE difference between the type of cheating that Gaylord Perry did and taking performance enhancers. Gaylord scuffed and spit on a baseball. He is not the only person in history to do it. He was just one of the few who could actually control a doctored baseball well enough to actually have it work for them (a doctored ball is not easy to control). I don't think that authorities were staking out Gaylord's house awaiting the arrival of a shipment of doctored baseballs. Why? Because while it's considered "cheating" in baseball, it's not against the law. Steroids and HGH are against the law.

Cal Ripken Jr.
And what would be the explanation for not voting for Ripken, for that matter? That he didn't come up to the press box and personally shake every hand during his surreal orbit of the ballpark the night he passed Lou Gehrig?

It's sure tough to think of any other negatives on this guy's report card. I've heard people say the streak was overrated. And in a vacuum, most iron-man streaks really are. But when you consider what this streak meant to the sport, what the night of 2,131 meant to the sport, how could we ever claim this particular streak was overrated?

The fact is, though, that Cal Ripken would be a Hall of Famer whether he'd played in two games in a row or 2,000 in a row. That streak made him an icon, but he was already a Hall of Famer. The streak was just a frame around a great career.

Did you know that no player was elected to start the All-Star Game more times than Ripken (17 times in 18 years)? Did you know that no American League shortstop besides Ripken ever won two MVP awards?

Did you know that no shortstop ever had more seasons of at least 50 extra-base hits than Ripken (12)? Did you know that just three players besides Ripken ever won a rookie-of-the-year award, an MVP award and an All-Star Game MVP award -- Frank Robinson, Willie Mays and Fred Lynn?

I could go on for a week. But if any truly responsible voters in this electorate think Cal Ripken isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer, why are we even letting them vote?

Ladewski is a mediocre writer for a 3rd rate paper. He's doing this for self promotion. They should take his vote away, if he is that stupid.