Hall of Merit

From Wiki Gonzalez

The Hall of Merit (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/hall_of_merit/) is a project, conceived by Joe Dimino, that is designed to honor the best players in baseball history. When it's up-to-date, it will have as many honorees as the Baseball Hall of Fame, but they will be the players who deserve to be recognized as the best, using all of the statistical tools and historical research available, and attempting to treat all eras fairly.

The process by which the Hall selects players is to hold elections for each "year," starting with 1898, using the Hall of Fame 5-year eligibility rule (modified for Negro Leaguers with extended careers). Candidates are permanently eligible for election.

An election is held every two weeks, with a week of discussion followed by a week in which voters can post their ballots. Each voter is required to rank their top 15 eligible candidates and provide reasons for their selection, as well as explanations for any candidates who finished in the top 10 in the previous election and who do not make their ballots. The votes are counted and the top finishers are included in the honorees, known as HoMers.

If you are interested in participating in the Hall of Merit, the process is to post a sample ballot, with the required explanations, in the current year's Ballot Discussion thread. If there are no reasons to object to the ballot (such as voting Rabbit Maranville #1 because you like bunnies, or vest-pocket catches), you can submit a ballot.

At the present time (July 2007), the elections are up to 2002.

The Hardball Times 2006 annual book contains a piece in which Dimino explains the HoM process in great detail, and discusses the election progress up to 1925.