Hall of Fame, or Hall of the Waiting Game?

Well, I'm new to this whole blogging game, so I'll start with an introduction of sorts. Most people know me as Loski, and I'm a second year journalism student. This blog is part of one of my classes, where I'll be posting twice a week. We're allowed to pick a topic, and I'm a die-hard baseball fan, so that's what I'll be writing about. Hope I'm able to generate some conversation. As one of my instructors will be reviewing this, I ask responses to be within FCC guidelines, haha. The thing that's got me this week is the voting results for the Hall of Fame. Rickey Henderson belongs there. What astounds me is that he didnt have a higher vote percentage. He is the all-time leader in runs scored and stolen bases, and he revolutionized the leadoff spot. But that's a rant for another time...My concern is based on Jim Rice. I'm not here to debate his worthiness, every angle for both arguments has been heard for the last 14 years...and that's where I'm concerned. What I'm wondering is what makes him Hall-worthy now, and not Hall-worthy the previous 14 years. He hasn't played a game in 20 years now, so his stats haven't changed. The way I feel is that the Hall of Fame should be just that, a place to enshrine the very best performers in the sport. And to me, a Hall of Famer should jump out at you, like today, you have people referring to Ken Griffey Jr., Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez as "future Hall of Famers." I think it should be evident right after they retire. Like I said, nothing in the last 15 years has made Jim Rice better. People argue that the "Steroids Era" makes previous players' performances more impressive. I disagree. You can't compare eras, because the game is played differently. That's why comparing Trevor Hoffman to Goose Gossage, and Ted Williams to, say, Manny Ramirez is flawed. I think a large part of this problem is the voters in the BBWAA, I think the voting criteria is too subjective to indivdual opinions. Like Corky Simpson of the Green Valley News and Sun, who's reason for not voting for Rickey Henderson was he "wasn't a Rickey guy." It's not whether you like the guy, it's whether the guy's performance warrants induction. And you can't pull the character card, because if that's the case, how do you explain Ty Cobb? I wonder if anyone else shares my frustration, or has some sort of explaination...