Have you been depressed for the past month because the Baseball Writers Association of America failed to elect Tim Raines into the Cooperstown's Hall of Fame?  Never fear, the Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame is here!  We elected Tim Raines unanimously and without reservations as the second best leadoff hitter of all time.

Raines represented one of seven new candidates to gain entrance into the hallowed corridors of Baseball Evolution's Hall of Fame.  There are 91 players and managers inducted into Cooperstown but not into the Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame, 120 names overall, as umpires, pioneers, and executives are ineligible for the Baseball Evolution halls. 

So in Baseball Evolution's far more exclusive Hall of Fame, Frank Selee, Ray Dandridge, Bill Foster, George Sisler, and Tony Lazzeri all finally gained entrance when they were each welcome in Cooperstown already.  Selee and Dandridge in particular deem noteworthy as they gained 2008 election after having received just three of six possible votes in 2007, giving hope to all of the other holdovers on the Baseball Evolution ballot. 

Selee actually went from three votes to six in one year, with Scott, Keith, and Asher all changing their Selee vote from "1" to "2."  Was it his prodigious mustache, his .598 career winning percentage, or the fact that he laid the groundwork for Frank Chance to lead the Chicago Cubs to consecutive World Series titles, the only two the franchise has enjoyed to date?    

Whatever the reason, Selee now joins a more exclusive group than the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  There are only 43 player in the Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame that do not belong to Cooperstown, as opposed to the 91 that belong to Cooperstown and not the Baseball Evolution model.  Joining Raines as a non-Cooperstown inductee is Darrell Evans.  Evans finally received his fifth vote after receiving four the previous two seasons, with Scott voting him a "0" in 2006 and both he and Asher voting Evans a "1" in 2007.       

A quick gander at our Era and Positional Breakdowns shows that corner outfielders represent the two positions perhaps favored by out triad of Baseball Evolution voters.  Nevertheless, it was a first baseman (Norm Cash), second baseman (Willie Randolph), third baseman (Ken Boyer), center fielder (Wally Berger), and starting pitcher (Ben Taylor) who fell off of 2009 eligibility by failing to receive three total votes this year.

What's in store for that 2009 ballot? Only two candidates remain with two voters giving them a "2" on their ballots: Hack Wilson and Davey Johnson.  Scott holds the key to their respective inductions, being the voter to not give either a single vote.  Scott relented on his un-approving stance regarding Stan Coveleski, however, only to see Asher reduce his vote for Covey from "2" to "1."

Therefore, much is possible for next year's voting.  What you won't see is the likes of Bruce Sutter, Red Ruffing, Chick Hafey, and Freddie Lindstrom in the Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame.  Those players are reserved for the lesser Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.