Winter ball

A continuing disappointment with the annual Baseball Hall of Fame vote is the also-ran standing of Jim Rice. I've written this guy on my ballot (yes, an official vote) every year of his eligibility. Lifetime .298, 382 HR, 1451 RBI, .502 slugging, MVP once and top five in MVP voting five other times. In a lineup with Lynn, Fisk and Evans, Jim Rice was the Darth Vader no pitcher wanted to face.

Why wasn't he elected years ago? This is why: Because of his surliness to writers (who do the voting), and because of race. Rice was not reluctant to suggest racial bias (remember, he played in Boston). He came up at the same time as nice-guy teammate Fred Lynn. Too many writers are hanging onto grudges over Rice's uncooperative attitude and insulting clubhouse conduct and remarks.

Rice has been on the ballot 12 years. Three to go, and I'm not optimistic about his chances.

Next winter we will see three big names on the ballot for the first time: Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and Mark McGwire. Two of them are shoo-in winners. We'll see how forgiving voters will be with the taint of performance-enhancing drugs.

Never before has my Hall of Fame ballot so closely resembled the consensus as it did this year. Of the 10 top choices in the balloting, nine were mine. The one top-10 name missing from my ballot was Rich Gossage — only because the numbers ran against him this year. Only 10 names are allowed on a ballot, and I put priority on voting for a few worthy candidates who (like Rice) are about to run out of eligibility.

I know Gossage will be in the Hall of Fame one day; he has the credentials. Besides, the New York connection will eventually push him in. The New York sportswriters are a flock of magpies: When they begin to talk among themselves and write about a topic, their talking and writing feeds on itself, and soon they become a noisy swarm flapping in the same direction. I predict the Gossage swarm will occur next winter.

Dave Parker has had my vote nearly every year since he has been eligible. This year his was the only name on my ballot which didn't show up in the consensus top 10. He ranked 11th.

Two other players always on my ballot are Tommy John and Steve Garvey. Both clearly belong in the Hall of Fame, but they're near the end of their tenure on the ballot.