Major League Baseball fans are up in arms after seeing another controversial ballot for the Hall of Fame. The ballot was submitted by Art Davidson, Chairman of the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), who named just one player — former closer Francisco Rodriguez.
The singular vote, for a player that was dominant for a short stretch, but hardly “Hall” worthy, had fans on Twitter once again bemoaning the process that MLB uses to enshrine its former greats.
Rodriguez was a dominant closer at the start of his career. He registered 194 saves over a four-year stretch with the Los Angeles Angels in the early 2000s and won a World Series championship with the team in 2002. However, his career quickly trailed off after he joined the New York Mets in 2008. While he remained a mostly effective reliever until his retirement with the Detroit Tigers in 2017, he fell far off his initial career trajectory. Many MLB fans would like to see Davidson’s ability to vote taken away after seeing his ballot.
Yet, as other MLB fans have pointed out, it’s not all Davidson’s fault. It’s that the writer at the MetroWest Daily News, a newspaper covering suburban Boston, didn’t really have anyone great to vote for this time.
However, at least one MLB fan had no problem with Davidson’s vote. It’s not like he was a bad pitcher, right?
