Barry Stanton's Explanation for Surhoff Vote

Didn't want to clog up the front page, so I thought I would post this here.  

Barry Stanton is taking part in ESPN's live chat before the HoF announcement.  He offered to explain his vote for Surhoff:

Here is Barry Stanton's response to the questions about his ballot - and namely, his vote for B.J. Surhoff. I'm posting this in three parts. 

PART I 
In 1976, I was just out of college and working my first job at the Port Chester (NY) Daily Item, covering a Babe Ruth 13-year-old tournament. The starting pitcher for the team from Rye was supposed to be their star, a big kid named Rich Surhoff, whose father Dick had played for the NY Knicks in the 1950s. Surhoff did, in fact, make it t the major leagues, spending nine games with the Philadelphia Phillies. But that day, the pitcher's younger brother was the one who caught my attention. He was only 12 years old and playing with the older kids, playing shortstop. On consecutive plays, I saw him range behind third base to the left field line and throw out a runner, then range the other way all the way behind first to catch a tricky pop that eluded a teammate.

PART 2 
After that game, I told BJ I thought that someday, I'd be watching him in the major leagues. For the next few years, I watched BJ become a local star at Rye HS, covering his games occasionally. And I remember telling him then that someday, I'd be voting for him for the Hall of Fame. Surhoff, went on to a career at UNC, became the No. 1 pick of the draft, played on our first Olympic baseball team. He had a very good (though not great) career for 18 years in MLB. And then there he was on my ballot (I've been a BBWAA member since 1985 and have had a Hall of Fame vote since '95). So I remembered that promise (though I honestly can't say if BJ does) and checked the box.

PART 3 
The reaction to that astounds me. I expected people who didn’t know the story to question that vote. But the sheer level of nastiness, the anger, amazes me. I really didn't think BJ would get elected. I'd be surprised if he got another vote besides mine. And I'm fine with that. BJ was a very good player and a good guy (check out the work he's done for autism, sparked by his autistic son). He earned the fulfillment of that 35-year-old promise. And who, exactly did that hurt? If voting for BJ cost someone who deserved entry, I wouldn't have done it. And if the rules said that everybody who got one vote got in, then I definitely wouldn't have done it. But it didn’t.

He doesn't seem to understand that there was an opportunity cost to his vote--since the ballot only includes room for 10 players votes are zero-sum.  I can understand doing something sentimental, but these days there are too many worthy candidates and too few slots.  Wasting a vote like that was irresponsible.

He also provided a short justification for his other votes/non-votes:

 

I have voted for Mattingly since he's been on the ballot. Same with Jack Morris, who is a better pitcher than Blyleven was.  I chose Tino because he was at the heart of a 4-time world championship team. As for Alomar, I did not vote for him last year and seriously considered changing my vote for him. I expect him to get in on this election, so I won't have a chance to vote for him next year, but I'm fine with that.