Minnie Minoso denied again by Hall of Fame voters
/As written in this space before, the biggest thing working against Minnie Minoso in his quest for Hall of Fame election may be the fact that he's still alive.
Minoso was again denied a spot in Cooperstown Monday when the Golden Era Committee released its ballots on the opening day of baseball's Winter Meetings. Minoso received eight out of 16 votes with 12 needed for election. His vote total actually went down, as he received nine last time around. The committee failed to elect a single candidate.
Another former White Sox great, Dick Allen, fell one vote short along with Tony Oliva.
Long considered by many smarter than I as a worthy candidate, Minoso never gathered much Hall of Fame hype when he was actually on the ballot.
He appeared for the first time in 1969 and only received 1.9 percent of the vote, few enough to fall off the ballot completely. However, after playing in three games with the White Sox in 1976 at the age of 50, he became eligible again in 1986 and received 20.9 percent of the vote. Two years later, he peaked at 21.1 percent and never received a higher vote total than that before his eligibility expired in 1999.
Why Minoso's worthiness increased in the eyes of the voters between 1969 and 1986 is anyone's guess, but the fact that he never came close to election during his 15 years on the ballot is beyond me.
Now, the wait continues.