MLB Hall Of Fame Voter Slammed For Not Knowing Rules, Changing Votes From Year-To-Year

A Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voter is getting rocked across social media for voting for some players last year but not those same players this year. He did so while also seemingly not even being aware of the rules.

As a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee and McClatchy Newspapers has been voting for MLB Hall of Famers for years now. He last covered the sport full-time in 2017, but per the rules, is still allowed to vote.

BRETON DIDN'T INCLUDE PLAYERS HE VOTED FOR LAST YEAR

After tweeting his completed ballot on Wednesday, Breton was asked by fans why he voted for Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez last year but not this year. The decision was especially curious considering nothing has changed with the two players - it's not like there have been any new steroid or PED allegations against them.

It appears Breton just didn't want to.

"Either a player is worthy of the HOF or he isn't. Deciding not to vote for someone this year because they will still be on the ballot next year should result in you losing your voting rights," one fan tweeted.

"So, life is black and white to you? That must make things simple. Alas, I don't see the world that way," Breton arrogantly responded. "Could I have voted for more? Sure. Some of the people I can vote for will still be on the ballot next year."

Say what?

SOMEBODY MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

The lack of logic in Breton's response is stunning and epitomizes everything that is wrong with some of these voters that make it all about themselves rather than the players. For SOME writers, this is their moment to shine and flex their holier-than-thou personas; sometimes they're as arrogant as the players they ridicule in their columns.

Let's just imagine that A-Rod was right on the cusp of getting into the Hall. But Breton and maybe two or three other writers all had that same mentality that "oh, he's not getting in anyway so why should I do my due diligence and vote for him?" What happens if because of that thinking a player was left out of the Hall? It would be an absolute disgrace and would clearly lack journalistic integrity.

Fans realize that players work their entire lives to make it to the Hall of Fame - they take it seriously even if some of the voters don't...

Which leads me to the next thing Breton did...

ENTER: GARY SHEFFIELD

When asked why he didn't vote for Gary Sheffield, Breton said that he "could still vote for him next year," because "that's the beauty of 10 years of eligibility."

The only problem is that this WAS Sheffield's last year of eligibility. Next year would be his eleventh and thus, he's off the ballot.

Fantastic job. And this is why baseball fans drink. (Along with seeing the Dodgers drop over a billion dollars on two players- but that's for a different day.)

I asked Sheffield's son, Gary Jr. about Marcos response regarding his father's eligibility.

"Obviously it’s less than ideal seeing voters go against players we know are deserving, and especially when I see an empty box next to my dad’s name. But to see a writer offer an explanation that is factually untrue is a hard pill to swallow," Shef Jr. began.

"Hopefully this situation doesn’t come back to bite my dad in the long run and at the very least this situation should bring a much needed conversation for the Baseball Hall of Fame to revamp their voting process. It’s broken."

VOTER'S OPTICS AREN'T GREAT

It's one thing to evolve your opinion - that's just human nature and can actually be a healthy thing.

And to be fair, baseball writers in particular have had to deal with the changing of the game and the complications regarding the Steroid Era. If voters don't want to vote any of the admitted steroid users into the Hall that is certainly their right.

Others however, like longtime columnist Kevin Kernan of BallNine.com, said that he has come around on the steroid use and puts the blame with MLB.

“Situations arrive where you may change your vote, perhaps through more research or just a change of heart. I used to not vote for the ‘Steroid Guys’ but changed because my attitude became ‘I’m off the wall. Baseball should have done a better job protecting the game so it is on the field that counts for me.’"

Regarding the raw deal that some voters may get because of some of their colleagues questionable voting decisions, Kernan says that it all comes down to doing what you're supposed to do.

“Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame is a privilege and the BBWAA writers I know take it extremely seriously. You do need to know when players come off the ballot. Like Bill Belichick famously said, ‘Do your job.’"

Kernan said that he covered Sheffield for years during his playing days and will be voting for him.

THE SOLUTION?

The voting process is never going to be completely fail-proof when humans are involved. But what can be done to at least make it sensible?

I asked former Oakland Athletics All-Star pitcher Mark Mulder his opinion on some media members making it about themselves and taking out their grudges on players they don't like be it in baseball or other sports like the NFL. (Football dealt with their own voting drama when Associated Press writer Hub Arkush refused to vote for Aaron Rodgers for MVP because of his Covid vaccine status. Arkush has since been dismissed from future voting)

“Whether Barry Bonds did steroids or not, he’s still one of the greatest players in the game,” Mulder began. “It’s like the media makes people out to be the worst. Other guys that maybe did it – ‘We love him, he was really nice to us!’ ‘But this guy? He was a dic* to us, so we don’t like him.”

“They just pick and choose who they want to leave out," Mulder continued.

PERSONAL GRUDGES

“It’s like ‘oh, okay.’ So now in order for us to be really considered for the Hall of Fame, I not only have to have a great career but I also have to really not say something that offends anyone, said Mulder. “You can’t believe in something and if you believe in something that someone else doesn’t, the response is ‘Well, we don’t like him anymore.'”

Mulder, like some others have recommended that more former players are involved in the voting process because they are the ones that actually played against the greats.

It's already frustrating enough being a sports fan. But to have the prestigious Hall of Fame being used as leverage by some writers for reasons that really don't make sense is understandably frustrating to many. I don't see how it's productive that every year when voting comes around some writers themselves mock how fans are going to react as if it's some sort of joke.

It should be a privilege and an honor to be able to vote on some of baseball's best to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Maybe some writers need to be reminded of that.