They deserved to be in so I am ok with that part. Rivera as the first unanimous is a bit flawed, but in these times understandable. One has to remember that in the past there would be one or two writers who would not vote for obvious inductees just so there would not be a unanimous vote. My concern is Michael Young only getting 2.1% of the vote. He was the defination of a team player in addition to being a top tier 3B.
I am glad the whole no unanimous vote ever thing is now gone, any writer who didnt vote for players just because they didnt want a unanimous vote should have immediately lost their vote. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Joe Dimaggio, Ted Williams and a whole slew of players come to mind whose vote not being unanimous was a crime.
/\ This---I remember when Nolan Ryan got in with whatever percentage, but one of the writers didn't vote for him because "so and so" didn't get 100%---vote for the guy because of what he did on the field (or off, if you're Pete Rose, ha), not for a reason that has nothing to do with the player. Now, do I think he should be the first unanimous player--hell no, but it was a long time coming. Maybe that "good ole boy" mentality of voting before is dying off...
Eh, now that we got the old codgers out who would purposefully not vote for someone simply because it might be unanimous, someone had to be the first. Pretty sure any player out there would have someone rail against him because everyone has differing opinions.
The "keep the PED guys out" buzz is going to completely die within the next couple years, too. The whole image that baseball has tried to portray ever since the Canseco book came out has been the idea that you can ONLY put lily-white, above-average Joes into the HoF. No one ever accused Cobb or Ruth or Williams of being these pure, innocent dudes. I agree that Michael Young fits the mold that MLB has been doing recently. Good dude with a big heart and he changed positions for ******* A-Rod. But I don't see him as a gamebreaking, generational talent.
IMHO.........if Teddy Baseball, Hammerin Hank or the Sey Hey Kid aint 100% then Rivera isnt 100% caliber either.
But the reason that those legends weren't 100% was because of petty sports writers with agendas that said "I once had a poor run-in with that guy so f**k him." Williams pissed off so many Boston & New York writers, so 20 of the 302 didn't vote for him. Comparing that standard to what they should use (on-field prowess and ability to help a team win) is silly and outdated. I'm also not saying it should be as easy to get in as the basketball HoF either. I like the 75 percent margin for the BW polling. But I think a lot of those guys who are left off are just petty differences with fact vs. image.
