King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Baseball Hall of Fame shutout. That's three straight, and it's time for another overhaul of the veterans committee.

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March 1, 2007 | The baseball Hall of Fame veterans committee this week voted not to induct any new members in the class of 2007. It's the third time the committee has voted in the six years of its current incarnation, and the third time it has refused -- failed, as most reports put it -- to elect anyone.

So Ron Santo, the leading vote getter, falling just five short of the needed 62, is still shut out. But Santo's qualifications are a matter of debate, as are almost anyone's. That's not why I think the veterans committee needs to be reorganized again.

The old veterans committee was scrapped amid charges of cronyism, the old players opening the Cooperstown doors wide for their buddies and former teammates. The election of glove man and World Series hero Bill Mazeroski in 2001 was the final straw. The new version votes every two years for players who weren't voted in by the baseball writers in their 15-year window, and every four years on what's called the composite ballot, which has managers, umpires and executives.

The committee, 84 members at the moment, consists of all living Hall of Famers and winners of the Ford Frick and J.G. Taylor Spink awards, handed out most years to honor a baseball broadcaster and writer, respectively.

So what we have is the members of a club not being anxious to extend a welcome to new members. They want to keep it exclusive. And that's fine. If Ron Santo or Jim Kaat or Gil Hodges couldn't convince the writers for 15 years that they belong in the Hall of Fame, and now haven't been able to convince a bunch of Hall of Famers that they belong in the Hall of Fame, maybe they don't belong in the Hall of Fame.

"The baseball writers voted on these guys for 15 years and they did not get in," committee member Joe Morgan said. "Should we lower our standards to put more people in the Hall of Fame? I don't think so."

I don't think so either, and I happen to think Santo does belong in the Hall of Fame. But nobody asked me, which is good. I could make a big argument for him here, but I've found over the years that such an argument doesn't accomplish anything and just annoys the elephant.

But here's some more of what Morgan said: "It is harder for me, and other Hall of Famers, to evaluate executives, so maybe that's something we'll talk about" at the next board meeting in May. Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark, who has also defended the committee in the wake of the third straight shutout, has said the board will evaluate the veterans committee process starting at that meeting.

Next page: Are former players the best judges?