Deadspin Says It Bought Hall Of Fame Vote From BBWAA Member

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Remember the stink made in January when Aaron Sele received a vote for the Hall of Fame?

(Not to mention fellow ex-Met Shawn Green, who got two votes.)

That was nothing compared to this.

The sports website Deadspin says it has purchased a ballot from a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and will poll its readers to determine who gets their vote.

"Our idea was to make a mockery and farce of the increasingly solemn and absurd election process and to take some power from the duly appointed custodians of the game's history and turn it over to the public," Deadspin's Tim Marchman wrote a little over an hour after the official ballot was released Tuesday.

It went on: "A member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America thought our plan sounded like a pretty damn good idea and sold us his/her vote, making a stand against the idea that a somewhat random subsection of the baseball press should maintain the power to confer what is, regrettably, the game's most prestigious honor. ... The voter will announce his/her name and motivations once his/her vote has been officially cast."

Deadspin said it was looking to buy more votes.

Nobody -- including baseball's best players from the Steroids Era -- received the 75 percent necessary for enshrinement during the last go-round. Deadspin announced at the time it was seeking tips on the identity of the person who voted for Sele, whose inclusion on the official results table sparked outrage among baseball fans and analysts who long to see the voting process turned on its head.

Though Jill Painter wasn't the lone Sele voter, the Los Angeles Daily News columnist came under fire for a ballot that included Green, Craig Biggio, Kenny Lofton, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams.

Mike Mussina, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas are among the first-timers on this year's ballot. Others on the loaded 36-player list include holdovers Biggio, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Jack Morris and the Steroids Era-tainted foursome of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

It will be Morris' 15th and final shot at Cooperstown.

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