Here’s who I would vote for if I had a Hall of Fame ballot, in order of how much I think they deserve to be in:

1. Cal Ripken Jr. - Even if he hadn’t set the ironman record, he would still be a shoo-in for the the Hall because of how he revolutionized the way we think of what a shortstop should contribute on offense. At a time when shortstop was still seen as a position where you could sacrifice offense for defense, Ripken hit 438 homeruns at the position. Oh yeah, he also won 2 MVPs, 2 gold gloves, and the 1982 AL Rookie of the Year. Far and away the best shortstop of his era.

2. Tony Gwynn - the best pure hitter of his day, Gwynn was an 8-time batting champion and was also a good defender who won 5 gold gloves. His .338 career batting average ranks 14th all time in the modern era, and the best of all who played since Ted Williams retired in 1960.

3. Goose Gossage - One of the most feared and dominant relievers of all time, Gossage was better than hall of famer Bruce Sutter by many measures and had a career almost twice as long. He was named to 9 All-Star teams in 11 years from 1975 to 1985, and had an ERA of 2.90 or better in his first 10 years as a relief ace. The only way Gossage doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame is if you believe that no reliever should ever be allowed in.

4. Jack Morris - Morris’s career ERA is high for a hall of famer, but that’s about the only reason I could see to keep him out. The man was the ace of every team he ever pitched on, including four World Series squads, and outdueled John Smoltz in the greatest game in World Series history. If the Hall of Fame is all about stats (which it is clearly not), then he could be kept out, but if it is about fame and glory, there has to be a place for Jack Morris, who was the greatest starting pitcher of the 80s.

5. Andre Dawson - The first 16 years of Andre Dawson’s career are virtually identical to the entire 16 years of Jim Rice’s, except that Dawson stole 318 bases to Rice’s 58, won 8 gold gloves to Rice’s zero, and hung around a few more years to hit 56 more home runs than Rice. Dawson was a complete player, whereas Rice was a one-dimensional slugger.

Close but not quite: Jim Rice, Dale Murphy, Burt Blyleven, Tommy John, Alan Trammell, Mark McGwire

Strictly for people who think the “save” stat actually means anything: Lee Smith

Fox Sports is reporting that Cal Ripken has had a few discussions with current O’s manager Peter Angelos about buying the team.

According to Fox, a deal is a long way from getting done. But just the prospect of Ripken taking control of the organization fills a Baltimore fan with hope. And O’s fans haven’t had much cause for hope in a long, long time.

From Fox:

Ripken and Angelos met shortly before Thanksgiving, and could meet again before the Christmas holiday, the source said.

The plan under discussion would be modeled after an approach used by the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens after former owner Art Modell agreed to sell the franchise to Steve Bisciotti.

A slow transfer of power might appeal to Angelos, who would gain immediate credibility with the addition of Ripken yet retain, for a specified period of time, a measure of control.

A lengthy period of transition also could work to Ripken’s benefit, giving him time to learn the business of Major League Baseball.

Ripken doesn’t have near enough money to buy the O’s. He’d have to recruit some other investors. The O’s are predicted to sell for close to $800 million. But that might not be too hard.

The real obstacle will be convincing Angelos to sell. After all, even as the team has struggled, the organization’s finances have improved. He’s seen the value of the franchise increase steadily since he bought it for $173 million in 1993.

Then again, maybe Angelos is tired of being the most hated man in Baltimore. The O’s have been bad for a while now. They’ve had nine straight losing seasons. And the reason for all the losing is clear: Angelos is the worst kind of owner. He insists on playing a prominent role in personnel decisions, but he doesn’t know anything about talent evaluation. He’ll spend money, but he’ll spend it on all the wrong players (see: Albert Bell, Sammy Sosa, Sidney Ponson, Kris Benson, Miguel Tejada).

On a personal note, I was born in Baltimore. My parents grew up in Baltimore. Most of my extended family still lives in Baltimore. Watching the Orioles deteriorate into an also-ran in the AL East has been sad, to say the least. And the team’s decline has come at the worst time for the city, which has also fell on hard times of late. If you haven’t been keeping up with the state of affairs in Baltimore, watch HBO’s “The Wire,” which ESPN’s The Sports Guy has dubbed “my favorite TV show of all-time.”

I was driving through my parents’ old neighborhood a few weeks ago and noticed that the streets are now bathed in a flashing blue light. The cause: the Baltimore Police Department has put cameras at the top of the lamp posts and the lights are there to make sure criminals know that they’re being watched. The security measure is a good and necessary one, but the flashing light makes one feel like they’ve stumbled into a post-apocalypse scene from some futuristic sci-fi movie.

Baltimore needs the Orioles now more than ever. And the Orioles need Cal Ripken.

The times, they really are a changin’ in Atlanta. First the team failed to win the NL East for the first time in 14 seasons. Now TBS has canned long-time play-by-play voice Don Sutton. From the AJC:

The company instead has offered Sutton a role as an analyst on Division Series playoff games that will air on TBS beginning next year. Sutton is “mulling that opportunity,” Pomeroy said.But such a role probably would involve calling no more than five playoff games — a far cry from the 100-plus Braves games Sutton has called annually for the past 18 seasons.

Sutton’s departure is just part of the shake-up at Turner Broadcasting. Earlier this year Turner sold regional cable channel Turner South to Fox Cable Networks. Since then Turner Sports’ five-man Braves broadcast rotation — Skip Caray, Chip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Sutton and Joe Simpson — has been overstocked. The sale leaves 70 TBS Braves telecasts and 162 radio games to be covered by the Turner Sports announcing crew next season, triggering a decision to pare the group from five to four.Since as long as I can remember, most Braves games have been broadcast on TBS, a national network. That was a huge advantage for the Braves, because it often meant that, in markets where there was no other team, Americans would adopt the Braves as their own.

Turner Sports’ Braves telecasts will be further reduced in 2008, when TBS cuts back from 70 games nationally to 45 locally. At that time, an additional 25 local Braves telecasts will shift to Fox, and TBS will air non-Braves games nationally with a new Sunday afternoon MLB package.

Turner is targeting Iron Man Cal Ripken to broadcast their Sunday Game of the Week. Ripken is apparently still weighing his options, but looks to be interested in the job.