Baseball is also referred by some people as the ‘solar system game.’ This is because the runners’ circular movements resemble the planets’ rotation around the sun. Baseball as a sport has a very rich history. For example, around 1863 ancient Chinese started playing the sport but was soon banned in 1959. Thereafter, the so-called China ‘cultural revolution’ ended and the sport was reintroduced with major reforms put in place. The people became more alert on the sport’s international appeal and signed up to participate in the Global Baseball Classic.

Hall of fame guidelines
The international baseball committee recently imposed new guidelines on how baseball hall of fame elections would be conducted. It was agreed that some special associate representatives would be allowed to make their castings directly via the mail. Moreover, the organization also concluded that major league retirees should have done so no less than 25 years. In the mid 90’s a crisis occurred in that BBWAA committee failed to pick any inductees; only a single player was picked over a period capping at least seven straight years.
The committee concluded that candidates’ broad field from that period up to the recent past made it challenging for one contestant to attain votes on three-quarters of the entire ballot box collection. In response, the committee approved 11 inductees at a meeting in the 1940’s. Henceforth, it was agreed that the BBWAA would entirely be scrapped off the inductees’ selection process. Nevertheless, criticism aroused as some people thought the committee was trying to limit BBWAA’s mandate over baseball players in the new age. More recently, a veterans committee held a meeting to propose a ballot concerning both umpires and managers. An alternative executive ballot of a single manager and umpire was implemented in that meeting. A veteran’s group election to pick from older participants had been carried out at a 2009 cycle. A consequent player’s election for those who started to play around 1943 or afterwards was planned for the inductee’s class of this year (2011). The next one for players who debuted before 1943 was tabled for 2014 class.
In July last year (2010), reforms were made that ensured long-retired Baseball players together with most non-playing staff would be recognized on one ballot. However, this ballot would be bound by the era in which candidates contributed the most. In addition, a second veteran’s meeting held in December decided to include only figures from the famous ‘Expansion Era’ which started at 1973. It was also considered that participants from ‘Golden Era’ which ran from 1947 to 72 would be picked for balloting for the coming year (2012). Much more, candidates from ‘Pre-integration period’ would go for balloting at 2013. To add on, all these committee meetings would take place in a rotating procedure.
Also, the BBWAA election mandate was revised to include active players in the year 1990 and thereafter; but this category was limited to the year 2004. This ballot would have candidates from 2009 who had a minimum of 5% total vote count but never got elected. Selected players who appeared in 2004 were also picked by the committee mandated with screening.