5 WAYS TO IMPROVE THE HALL OF FAME---USA TODAY

Offered by Steve DiMeglio and Seth Livingstone:

• 1. "Move it to New York City"--it's too secluded in Cooperstown

Neither of these guys is going to let the 2 most deserving Yankees win a post season BBWAA award, so don't panic--. My point, they suggest moving the HOF to the space of the soon-to-be-vacated Yankee Stadium. I repeat--this will cause BBWAA voters to shed even more tears & cast even fewer votes for Yankees, so don't worry about it.

• 2. "Induct Charlie Hustle and Shoeless Joe"

"One has the most hits any player in major league history has ever accumulated. The other has a lifetime batting average of .356. Neither is in the Hall of Fame.

The time has come for Major League Baseball to overturn its lifetime bans and allow Rose, who bet on baseball games as manager of the Reds, and Jackson, who was banned for life for his involvement in the 1919 Chicago Black Sox World Series gambling scandal, to become Hall of Famers."

• "The Hall of Fame is not a collection of saints. Like the major leagues, it's a home to both rogues and princes. For every smiling Hank Aaron, there's a snarling Ty Cobb. Rose has often compared his plight to those players who abused drugs and were given multiple chances to salvage their careers. Rose and Jackson have paid a proper price for their offenses. (Rose, who retired after the 1986 season, even has confessed his guilt.)"

• 3. "Redistribute the 'legends'"

They "propose a reorganization that would separate and duly honor baseball's immortals as well as its elite performers. The Hall can be divided into four categories (each receiving a grand, new wing in the Bronx)":

•"The Hall of Legends — This would be reserved for baseball's 100 greatest contributors on the field, "The Hall of Achievements, The Hall of Gratitude, and the Hall of Moments. (The authors expand on the 4 Halls.)

• 4. "Expand the voting"

(From the article): "Baseball writers no longer hold a monopoly on baseball knowledge and have long since been joined on a daily basis by a consortium of reporters who cover the sport for radio and television stations, websites and numerous publications other than newspapers."

• "Those who oppose adding television and radio broadcasters and analysts to the Hall of Fame's voters cite the conflict of interest involved in radio and television, for major league teams hire those who work in those two media. But bias for and against an eligible player is inherent in all who cover the game; radio broadcasters and television analysts should not be deemed unfit to provide thought on this integrity-challenging premise.

Furthermore, a collection of longtime baseball executives, as well as elite baseball historians such as Bill James, should be considered for voting rights. Their judicious contributions to, and study of, the game has created the depth of baseball knowledge and research we have today."

5. Play a doubleheader for the yearly HOF game.

The article in its entirety. from USA Today, 1/11/07

None of this will happen, but 2 established writers were very courageous to take this step.

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