Per an e-mail from Jason W.: With the voting all done for the year, how many more years does LNP have to play to become ballot-eligible? How about having a little fun and make a case for LNP in the Hall.

Why would that have to be only in fun, Jason? Do you doubt Punto's credentials? Sure, his .249 career BA, .652 OPS and 14 career home runs might trend on the low side in terms of similar hitters during this era, let it be known that Punto A) Has never been caught up in any PED scandal that we know of and B) Could easily occupy a special place in a new Battle Your Tail Off wing in Cooperstown.

What would it take to at least get LNP considered? Per the Hall of Fame web site, the player must be retired for five years (which pretty much everyone knows), so this isn't going to happen for a while. Other things you might not know: The player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons.

Depending on how you slice up Punto's seasons, he has played at least a little in 11 consecutive seasons. He played very sparingly in the first two, and kind of sparingly in others. But let's say for the sake of argument he gets credit for at least nine seasons and ends up having a productive 2012 with the Red Sox. He would have the necessary 10 seasons. Let's say he retires in the next few years. The next hurdle is a Screening Committee comprised of select baseball writers. Per HOF site:

The duty of the Screening Committee shall be to prepare a ballot listing in alphabetical order eligible candidates who (1) received a vote on a minimum of five percent (5%) of the ballots cast in the preceding election or (2) are eligible for the first time and are nominated by any two of the six members of the BBWAA Screening Committee.

So this committee is there to weed out any candidates who clearly don't belong on the ballot. This is where the real work might need to be done based on the 27 players who were on the ballot this year. Sure, Tony Womack made the ballot. But if he's among the worst players on there, well ...

What need in 2018 or 2019 are a couple of writers who love hustle and grit -- and a soft-spot for head-first dives into first base wouldn't hurt, either. Any other campaign ideas are welcome in the comments.