worrying that this didn't generate a good LoC rant yet

"Let’s get this straight from the start: When it comes to my Hall of Fame ballot, I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt. I don’t want to be a curmudgeon with a ridiculously high standard — not when the standard for election is 75 percent.

So, by design, I have decided that if I can make a good case for a player, I am going to vote for him.

Sometimes I surprise even myself. I did it this year, checking eight names the first day I considered the ballot and going back to add a ninth just before putting it in the mail. That would be Mark Grace, the guy who sometimes seemed as much a politician as a player during his 13 seasons as the Cubs’ first baseman.

He didn’t hit for power, which is the first thing most people look for in a first baseman. But otherwise he was terrific: .303 career average, more than 11/2 walks for every strikeout, elite fielding skills, leadership in the clubhouse. He led the majors in hits in the 1990s, with 180-plus in seven of those seasons."