Each year a mysterious cabal of sportswriters mash up a bunch of statistics, superstitions and bizarre grudges and decide who gets enshrined in the Hall of Fame. There are many perks to being enshrined in “The Hall”, not the least of which is getting your portrait painted by Dick Perez for the Perez-Steele Gallery. Or I guess that used to be the case, apparently they discontinued the series in 2001. Sorry, Goose Gossage!

I was bored watching the Yankees blow a lead tonight, and started looking at HOF votes and found out there have been twenty eight players who received a single vote for the Hall of Fame. In a way, this is even more amazing than getting voted in: there was one lonely sportswriter in the entire realm who looked at your career and decided, “If Phil Rizzuto can make it, why not this guy?” How does this happen? Do the players and their one supporter end up getting lunch together? Are these votes sincere, or are they equivalent of writing in “Donald Duck”? Are there people out there who just enchanted by perfect games, testicular cancer, homicidal paranoia, longevity, or financial acumen that they think their men deserve a spot in Cooperstown?

We may never know, but thirteen of these men in the One Vote Brotherhood got themselves immortalized by Dick Perez thanks to Donruss Diamond Kings. They are enshrined below:

None of this is meant to mock these players: just making it to the major leagues is an accomplishment, and these players managed to rack up fifty four All-Star Game appearances, twenty five World Series rings, ten Golden Gloves, three Cy Young Awards, three Rookie of the Year trophies, and an MVP award between them. None of them should be in the Hall, but they can take solace knowing they’re in an equally rarified One Vote Club.

And to Tom Browning, Jay Buhner, Mark Davis, Shawon Dunston, Bill Gullickson, Bruce Hurst, Chuck Knoblauch, Randy Myers, Terry Pendleton, Jose Rijo, Lonnie Smith, Terry Steinbach, Todd Stottlemyre, Tim Wallach and Walt Weiss: you may not have been Diamond Kings, but Perez appears to be accepting commissions! Keep hope alive!