Posted by winnetka1 on 12/6/2011 3:58:00 PM (view original):
Actually, someone's post fits the desription of a reasonable argument. He made a complaint."The BBWAA is not qualified to vote". He gave his reason for making that statement then followed it up with an alternative solution and then even offered a possible rebuttal to his solution. It wasn't just a mere complaint.
The reality of his suggestion is that there is still enough of the "old school" mentality among the baseball establishment such that they're not about to turn the keys of the HOF over to the SABR stat-nerds. My best guess is that's a generation (20-25 years) away.
Plus, if you believe that there are some intangible qualities that players have (leadership, clubhouse presence, etc.), that's not going to show up in stats, so how would the SABR nerds be able to quantify that and incorporate that into the voting process?
If the stats themselves are borderline, there needs to be a "feel" that a particular player is a HOFer. And as Mike also pointed out, outside of Wrigleyville, Santo never had that HOF feel.