Gwynn and Ripken...what Hall of Famers should be.

Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were voted in the Baseball Hall of Fame on
their first year of eligibilty. Both players are what baseball is about
and should be. Gwynn was the portly outfielder with the sweet stroke and
analytical approach to hitting Cal Ripken Jr. redefined the position of
shortstop, had pop in his bat and was the defintion of work ethic. His
2632 consecutive game streak should not be the only thing one thinks of
when his name is mentioned.
I've always been a big fan of Tony Gwynn. He just went out and got
hits, punching crisp singles the opposite way in what he used to call
the 5.5 hole between the shortstop and 3rd baseman. Had the '94 season
not ended in a strike, I'm certain he would have joined fellow San
Diegan and pal Ted Williamsin the .400 club. I had the opportunity to
meet him by chance when the Padres were playing the Reds in 1990, he was
coming out of his hotel and I literally ran into him by accident. I
happened to have a bunch of baseball cards with me and one of them was
his. I showed it to him and got a laugh. He was nice enough to chat with
me about his theories on hitting for a few minutes and he signed the
card. That card is one of my treasured possesions. I'm pretty sure that
if I had a chance meeting like that with Cal Ripken Jr. it woudl have
went the same way. Ripken was well known for his penchant for signing
autographs after a game and staying till everyone had an autograph. Both
players were and still are the defintion of classy and there won't be
any question of what hat they will have on their plaque. Cal Ripken
literally grew up in the Oriole system with his dad and brother. Tony
Gwynn signed with the Padres out of San Diego State and would come to be
known as Mr. Padre. Even though Dave Winfield is in the Hall of Fame
with a Padre hat, Gwynn will be the first from that team to be in the
Hall of Fame having played a majority of his career in San Diego playing
all twenty seasons of his career as a Padre.
This brings me to another salient point, Mark McGwire. He didn't even
get close to the 75% needed for election but after his blubbering at
Congressional hearings in 2005 his chances went down the drain. He might
get in but it'll take a while. The thing that make me angry is the 8
morons who send it blank ballots. Like they are some sort of sacred
guardians of the baseball temples. I would like a few words with them
and the 5 others that did not put Tony Gwynn on their ballot. Were these
the same ones that put Jose Canseco or Bret Saberhagen or Jay Buhner on
their ballots? Now if the ones that voted for the aforementioned players
put Ripken and Gwynn along with their inane selections, more power to
them. I'm just annoyed about this so-called unspoken rule about a player
never being a unanimous selection. The old codgers that rant that if
greats like Cobb and Ruth were not unanimous selections and legends like
Mays and Aaron were not, then players like Gwynn and Ripken should not.
I agree that Ruth and Aaron should have been unanimous selections. I
also think that neither one should have had to wait 5 years, but the
writers feel like they are the keepers of the flame. I'd take the blank
eight and the four morons that vote for that criminal Pete Rose take
their hall of fame vote away and make them watch bad baseball movies for
two years.