A SPORTING VIEW

By Mark Vasto

Cooperstown is the kind of place that baseball players would normally spend most of their careers trying to avoid.

In most respects, it has "minor league" written all over it. Most people know that it's located in New York, but even most New Yorkers couldn't tell you how to get there (it's located 70 miles west of their state capital, Albany ... an area most Big Apple residents would consider to be Canada). To be sure, it's a charming village with an exceptionally high quality of life, completely devoid of urban sprawl. And the locals are certainly proud of their lifestyle and the variety of museums -- one in particular: the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The only way to get to Cooperstown, aside from a long car ride or the bus that travels there twice daily from New York's Port Authority terminal, is to receive an invite courtesy of the Baseball Writers Association of America or the Hall's Veterans Committee.

The writers vote on a list of predetermined players who played for a minimum of 10 years and have been retired for at least five years. Those receiving 75 percent of the vote are eligible; those receiving less than 5 percent are dropped from consideration. Those dropped or not elected in 15 years find themselves at the mercy of the Veterans Committee. The general criteria for Hall of Fame induction (at least for arguments sake) states that the player should have had at least one extraordinary season, a solid three-year stretch where the player was in the upper echelon of the game, and relative dominance over a 10-year span.

This year, Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and Mark McGwire are eligible for induction on their first ballot. Ripken and Gwynn are locks to make the Hall; McGwire's fate is tied to the writers' tolerance of steroid abuse. Looking ahead, Rickey Henderson becomes eligible in 2008, another player meriting first ballot selection.

As with any exclusive club, there have been certain injustices. Goose Gossage, who redefined the closer's role, and Jim Rice, who clearly fits the criteria mentioned above, deserve induction. Don Mattingly, who was one of the most dominant players of the 1980s and whose career numbers match recently inducted Kirby Puckett's, also merits far more serious consideration.

Still, the biggest crime lies in the Veterans refusal to elect Buck O'Neil to the Hall. Thanks to O'Neil (himself a former member of the Veterans Committee), the history of the Negro Leagues -- where he excelled as a player and coach -- have been preserved. This year, he's not even on the ballot. That's disgraceful.

In 2009, the next time the Veterans vote, let's hope they finally make things right.

Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter and publisher of The Parkville (Mo.) Luminary.

(c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc.