2011 Twins Game Recaps

2011 Game 160: Yeah, Right.

62 Comments

Rather than talk about the Twins playing out the string, how about a discussion on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's ballot? Last year we discussed the merits of various candidates in the CoC, but given the musical tastes of the nation a standalone post (and maybe a poll? Spooky?) seem to be merited.

Here's the full ballot:

Guns N Roses*
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
War
The Spinners
Eric B. & Rakim*
The Cure
Freddie King
Rufus with Chaka Khan
The Small Faces/The Faces**
Donovan
Laura Nyro
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Donna Summer
Beastie Boys
Heart

* first year of eligibility
** Rod Stewart is in already as a solo artist. Ron Wood is in as a member of the Stones. Kenney Jones is not in as a member of The Who.

The rules for nomination are simple: acts become eligible for induction 25 years after their first commercial release, which puts 1986 as the cutoff for this year. Voters can vote for up to five nominees. Who is on your ballot?

62 thoughts on “2011 Game 160: Yeah, Right.”

        1. The museum is cool, but HoF? I suppose that kind of supports the museum, but <font size=10256>Who Cares?</font>

    2. I'm thinking of the number of words JoePos would devote to this topic, and I think you've just established the bar for the opposite of a Posnanskian reaction to the ballot. 😉

  3. I have a better idea: let's find out who's actually been to various Halls of Fame?

    My list:

    Baseball
    Basketball
    Football
    Rock 'n Roll
    Bowling (stopped in for a soda waiting for the gates to open at Busch stadium)

        2. I've been to the corn palace, but that's about it. Well, other than the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Does that count?

          1. I've never been, but my 9th grade German teacher included a picture of it in the series of pictures of Berlin landmarks we were supposed to memorize. Does that count?

          2. I've also been to the NHRA museum at the L.A. County Fairgrounds, but I can't remember if they had some sort of drag racing Hall of Fame. It was pretty cool with all the old race cars and jumpsuits.

                    1. I had the chance to touch the cup at Brett Hall's house, but I didn't make it to Brett Hull's house. boo on me.

    3. I've been to the bowling hall of fame, mainly because I was in St. Louis many years ago and had an afternoon free. It was actually much cooler than I expected it to be.

      1. I've always thought it funny that the Bowling HoF wasn't in Reno where they have the national championship every other year.

        1. Have driven by Eveleth/hockey HOF, and BBall in Springfield, Mass. Saw a sign around Lake Saratoga for Cooperstown in NY. There is a HOF for Cricket in my backyard in Hartford, but sadly I have not visited it (yet).

  4. I'd support Eric B & Rakim, as a group, and I'd support them separately.

    Cure and Beasties are borderline for me, but I'm guessing that they will get in someday.
    Probably Donna Summer (I'd put her in to honor Moroder).

    I don't know enough about The Spinners or Freddie King.
    I don't know Laura Nyro from anyone, but I can see she's collaborated with some artists from the 70s that I dislike. So I vote no.

    Time for me to complain about artists without nominations. I would support any of the artists below before any of the artists above save Eric B. & Rakim:
    Sonic Youth
    Ministry
    Throbbing Gristle
    Coil
    Einstürzende Neubauten
    Lee "Scratch" Perry
    Sly & Robbie
    Meat Puppets

    Need to get these out of the way because soon these artists will be eligible:
    The Sugarcubes
    Juan Atkins
    Derrick May
    Kevin Saunderson

      1. According to the Repository (and who can argue with an encyclopedia?)

        the duo was almost universally regarded as the premier MC/DJ combo in hip hop. The two had a potent chemistry;

        Whoa, potent chemistry. Sounds like HOF material to me. That's some serious intangibles.

    2. Knowing what I know about the nomination process (I have a very close friend on the committee), I can tell you that the groups who routinely don't get nominations don't get them because of a combination of relative age of the committee, musical tastes, racial ignorance, and preconceived notions about what constitutes worthy music. Speaking to your list specifically, I can tell you that age of the committee is the limiting factor for a number of those groups.

        1. No, but just like voting for baseball's HoF and season awards you get the some of the same kind of stubborn, old hardliner journos and such who have very specific ideas they'll never allow to be challenged. And then when you get to who actually votes on the nominees it's basically thousands of music programmers and radio DJs.

          If I were to characterize it, the process is something like combining the worst of the processes for voting for baseball HoFers and All-Stars.

      2. Oh, I know there's no chance (well, maybe SY and Scratch or S&R), but I just gotta list some off the top of my head.

        I figured that being based in the US may have biased them against groups like TG, Coil, and Einstürzende Neubauten, who have also never really had any major-label releases, nor did they influence anyone* that sold many major-label releases.
        *Other than Nine Inch Nails

        I was listening to dub and techno today, so that drove my list. I had a way different list when this discussion came up last year.

        Yeah, the Belleville Three have no chance, either. DJ music like Techno is going to be very hard for the HOF to work with for the "first commercial release" thing, because, what's a commercial release? Does it have to use a name the artist used later? Mixtapes and limited-press vinyl-only runs would have to be ineligible as well. What about a commercial release of a mix of others' music? Some worthy DJs may not have had a "commercial release" of original music until a decade or more into their career (if at all).

        And I don't even know if I'd vote for the Sugarcubes.

        Will the Pixies get in? They should be eligible in 2013, if I did my math right.

        old hardliner journos and such who have very specific ideas they'll never allow to be challenged
        What we need is a VORB statistic, to allow for more objective discussions of these things. Sure, it may take a while, but maybe SY or Lee Perry could benefit from a good Blyleven-type campaign.
        (And if VORB shows me that the Meat Puppets were just a replacement-level cowpunk band, I can always disagree with how it's calculated. They really shouldn't be counting that one very sub-replacement first album nor Golden Lies. Take those two albums out, and you've got case.)

  5. And yes, we've finally got to the point where Danny Valencia is our No. 3 hitter. A little surprised it isn't DSpan2, but he's still fighting off the rust and fog. Not that it really matters, just showing possibly the lowest point this season in lineup construction.

    FSNtylermason Tyler Mason
    by SethTweets
    #Twins lineup: Span CF, Revere LF, Valencia 3B, Parmelee 1B, Plouffe SS, Tosoni DH, Benson RF, Tolbert 2B, Rivera C, Swarzak SP.

      2. I'm just glad Gardy doesn't put Revere ahead of Span at the top of the order. He's fast, so he can lead off!!

      2. I'm thinking a hondo in the L column automatically triggers major changes. Take out the brooom. New bat-boy. Different laundry vendor. Maybe more...

    1. Vasquez will be 28 in November and has had control trouble basically his whole career. I'm sure there are pitchers who've learned to throw strikes at that age, but I doubt if it's a terribly long list. I'm not upset about it, since it doesn't cost them anything, but I fail to see what makes him a better bet than, say, Chuck James.

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