Is Greg Maddux About to Become the First Unanimous Hall of Famer In History?

Mar 9, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers special assistant Greg Maddux (middle right) sits next to his brother pitching coach Mike Maddux (middle left) during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Something may be about to happen that has never happened before in the history of the world. We could be on the verge of seeing our first unanimous Hall of Fame selection.

Amazingly, never in the history of the Hall has a player received 100% of the vote. Ty Cobb fell short. Babe Ruth. Ted Williams. Willie Mays. All the legends. All came up short of 100%.

So why should we believe that anyone will break the 100% barrier this year? If Babe Ruth couldn’t even do it?

No reason. Except that, according to the Hall of Fame ballot collecting gizmo at Baseball Think Factory, Greg Maddux is on his way to getting 100%.

The gizmo works because some writers reveal their Hall of Fame vote before the official tally is announced. So readers find these leaked ballots and send them in. And the gizmo, or whoever runs the gizmo, counts up all the votes to keep a running score.

Smart. Fun. No one gets hurt.

As of the last count, Maddux was still sitting at 100%. This was with an estimated 14.9% of ballots counted.

Okay, so Maddux still has a looooooong way to go before it’s anywhere near official. The chances are very very remote that the 100% barrier will be broken this year.

Chances are several voters decided to leave Maddux off. Why vote for the shoo-in when that vote can instead be used to champion the cause of a lesser player who is in danger of being dropped from the ballot? That’s the reasoning a lot of guys employ when choosing not to vote for a slam dunk.

And that reasoning is part of why there has never been a 100% unanimous selection. The other reason is “That guy was mean to me once after a game and now I hate him and I’m not going to vote for him.”

Baseball writers are such babies. They’re also insanely predictable. Which is why Maddux probably has no shot at 100%.

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