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"And any voter who thinks someone is clearly a HOFer, but doesn't vote for him his first year of eligibility because he's not a "first ballot HOFer" is a mindless idiot who needs to have his voting privledges stripped from him."

I agree. That is absolutely STUPID. Or how about that fat writer from Philadelphia (Conlon perhaps? ... hes always on Sports Reporters) who only votes for 1 name and then just pulls another name OUT OF A HAT!!! WTF??

As you probably inferred from my earlier post, I disagree 100% with the notion that there is no difference between a Hall of Famer and a first-ballot HOFer.

IMO, Gary Carter is belongs in the HOF, but shouldn't have gone in on the first ballot (and still hasn't gone in, obviously). The difference is that while he was a great catcher and has solid HOF credentials, he isn't Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella or Johnny Bench.

Similarly, I thought it was a sham a few years back when George Brett and Robin Yount went in together as first-ballot picks. Brett, I believe was clearly a first-ballot pick while Yount -- if he went in at all -- certainly didn't have the overwhelming numbers to put him in immediately. Have you ever wondered why Yount went in on the first ballot and Dale Murphy and Jim Rice, among others with similar credentials, are still on the outside looking in?