Tom Tango breaks up the known Hall of Fame ballots into types to see how candidates like Tim Raines are improving this season. One of his types is, “Did the ballot include Bonds and/or Clemens?” This got me wondering if age has something to do with voting for Bonds and/or Clemens. Someone who doesn’t have a lot invested in Henry Aaron’s record, for example, might be more willing to vote for an alleged PED user. Unfortunately, sports writers, unlike baseball players, don’t have biographies that are easy to find, unless you’re someone big like Peter Gammons.

If the age distribution was true, then Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens might have a chance as the older voters die off. That’s the reason I believe Jim Rice finally got into the Hall. All the voters who hated dealing with him as a player were overwhelmed by the voters who only knew him through his statistics.