The following article is part of my ongoing look at the candidates on the 2018 Modern Baseball Era Committee Hall of Fame ballot, which will be voted upon by a 16-member committee of writers, executives and Hall of Fame players at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla,, with the results to be announced on Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. ET. For a detailed introduction to the Modern Baseball ballot, please see here.
In the wake of the controversial 2001 election of Bill Mazeroski, the Hall of Fame began what has become a seemingly endless cycle of revamping the process by which executives, managers, umpires and long-retired players were considered for election, largely because candidates from that last category have gone missing.