Scribbled notes cover the desk. The monstrous Total Baseball book has been lying open on the floor for the past several days, on call. Numbers and statistics float through the air like mist.

Yep, the annual Hall of Fame vote is here again.

The ballot arrives the first week of each December, and it must be returned by New Year's Eve. I always wait until Dec. 31 to fill it out and ship it back, though unlike school days of years ago when many assignments were turned in at the last moment, this beat-the-deadline rush isn't procrastination.

No, I like to chip away at the ballot a little at a time all month, like an auto buff working on his newest acquisition in the garage. I don't know, maybe in the back of my mind I'm thinking Babe Ruth might reappear on the ballot mid-month and I will have screwed up if I return it on, say, Dec. 8.

Closer to the point, I wait until the 31st for two reasons:

1. I want to savor the ballot as long as I can because of the honor that comes with voting
2. And I want to make darn sure I don't overlook anything -- even, say, Ryne Sandberg's fielding percentage in 1982 (.970).

I have nightmares that I've turned in the ballot and, when the Hall of Fame results are announced, one deserving player misses by one vote and it was me who left him off of my ballot -- and when the controversy begins, people come my direction and ask why I failed to check the box next to his name, and the best I can come up with is an exaggerated, Steve Martin-esque "I forrr-got!"

Voting for the Hall each year is a unique and distinctive honor, and the feelings that go with it are difficult to describe. To me, the responsibility is immense -- partly, I think, because the way I see it, it's your Hall of Fame as much as mine, and I view my role as similar to that of a congressman's: I'm simply a representative, voting on behalf of constituents.

Of course, that doesn't mean you'll agree with each of my decisions, or even with the majority of those decisions. And for those who don't, you can write: Dan Quayle, Huntington, Ind.

Ha ha, that was just a little political humor. The correct address is: Newt Gingrich, Cobb County, Ga.

Anyway, those eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame are members of the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America with 10 or more years in (and it must be 10 consecutive years). Last year, 472 members cast ballots, and it took 354 votes (75 percent) to get elected to Cooperstown -- as Ozzie Smith can attest, as well as several who didn't make it (including catcher Gary Carter, who just missed at 72.7 percent.)

This year's results will be announced on Tuesday, and here's how I turned in my ballot:

Bert Blyleven: It doesn't look as if Blyleven will get in anytime soon -- this is his sixth year on the ballot, and he received only 26.3 percent of the votes a year ago. Certainly, he's a borderline candidate, but I keep coming back to two things: His career strikeout total (3,701) and his career shutouts (60). Until both Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson passed him last summer, Blyleven ranked third all time on the strikeout list -- ahead of such luminaries as Tom Seaver, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller and Cy Young. He ranks ninth on the all-time shutout list, ahead of such legends as Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford and Clemens. One thing working against Blyleven is his 287 career victories (300, and he'd be a Cooperstown lock). But he pitched for some awfully bad Minnesota and Cleveland teams during his career -- and had they been even mediocre, Blyleven easily would have 300.

Gary Carter: Carter was a similar player to Carlton Fisk (Cooperstown Class of 2000), except he didn't have as much power and he never frantically tried to wave a World Series home run fair in Fenway Park to emblazon himself on our permanent memories. Still, his 298 home runs hit while playing catcher rank fourth all time.

Goose Gossage: Closers have had a difficult time getting respect in Hall of Fame balloting, but Gossage's continued absence (this is his fourth year on the ballot) is a serious oversight. The guy helped invent the modern-day closer role, and he did it in a day when closers sometimes would enter a game as early as the seventh or eighth innings. He was one of the original intimidators, and if you doubt his credentials, talk to any hitter who played during his era.

Jack Morris: To me, it's this simple: If Morris had spent most of his career in New York and received the attention that goes with it, he would be a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. No question. He was the winningest major-league pitcher of the 1980s. He was an anchor in the rotation for three World Series-winning teams: the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the 1991 Minnesota Twins and the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays. And he produced one of the finest pitching performances in World Series history when he won that 10-inning, 1-0 Game 7 decision for the Twins in '91.

Eddie Murray: Even though he didn't speak to the media for most of his career, I don't see any way Murray doesn't become a first-ballot Hall of Famer this year. His 3,255 hits rank 12th all time and his 504 home runs rank 17th.

Jim Rice: Some argue Rice was far from a complete player and that his hitting statistics don't stretch out over a long enough period, but the guy was so dominant during his on years. The AL Most Valuable Player in 1978 when he collected a staggering 406 total bases (the most since Stan Musial's 429 in 1948), he also finished among the top five in MVP voting on five other occasions.

Ryne Sandberg: This is his first time on the ballot, and to me, the former Chicago Cubs great might be the most interesting name to watch this year. While I don't see any way Murray won't get in, I think Sandberg will have more of a white-knuckle time -- but I think he gets in. He's certainly deserving. He's third all time for fielding percentage by a second baseman (.989), he won nine consecutive Gold Gloves, he was on 10 All-Star teams, he was an NL MVP in 1984 and finished in the top five on two other occasions.

Bruce Sutter: Another classic closer who is being kept on the other side of the Cooperstown gates, this is Sutter's 10th year on the ballot, and he received 50.4 percent of the votes a year ago. Like Gossage, he helped usher in the modern closer era, and he did so by sometimes working actually more than one inning in a game. Not only did he win the 1979 NL Cy Young award, he also finished among the top 10 of the NL MVP voting a highly impressive six times. That tells me he was one of the dominant pitchers of his era, and while I normally would like to see a longer sample of dominance from a Hall of Famer (Sutter pitched 12 seasons and really was only at or near his peak in nine of them), I also think the fact that he pretty much invented the modern-day split-fingered fastball adds to his Cooperstown-worthiness.

Alan Trammell: Though Trammell, to a degree, was overshadowed during his time in the American League by two Hall of Famers -- Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr. and Milwaukee's Robin Yount -- I still think that, comparatively, he has a case. He surpasses the 1,000-mark in both runs scored and runs driven in -- something only eight of the 19 shortstops enshrined in Cooperstown did. And of those 19, Trammell also has more home runs than all but two -- Yount and Ernie Banks. He's a four-time Gold Glove winner and finished in the AL MVP top 10 voting four times -- and should have won in 1987, when the award was given to Toronto's George Bell. More on Trammell in the next item.

Epilogue: Of the 24 remaining names on the ballot (a voter can list no more than 10 names; I voted for nine), the three that I heavily considered but decided no in the end were closer Lee Smith (first year on the ballot), outfielder Andre Dawson (second) and shortstop Dave Concepcion (10th).

The absence of Smith, who holds the major-league record with 478 saves, probably deserves the first explanation, and here it is: Quite simply, two things kept me from voting for Smith.

First, no disrespect intended to Smith, who obviously was one of the better closers of his generation, but ... Smith was pitching in the era of the cheap save, when managers began using their closers only for one inning. How many times was Smith asked to protect a comfortable lead of two or three runs by getting just three outs? Let's just say this: With Baltimore in 1994, for example, Smith collected a league-leading 33 saves (strike-shortened season, remember) and pitched a mere 38 innings. With the Angels the following season, he collected 37 saves while pitching only 49 innings.

When Gossage collected 33 saves for the New York Yankees in 1980, he pitched a whopping 99 innings. And when he saved 25 games (and won another 10) for the 1984 NL-champion San Diego Padres, he worked 102 innings. I mean, back then, men were men and top-shelf closers were rubber-hosed.

To me, Gossage and Sutter must go into the Hall before Smith -- if Smith ever does. The Mets' John Franco currently ranks second on the all-time saves list at 422 -- and how many out there think he's a Hall of Famer?

As for Dawson, I probably eventually could be convinced of his Hall-worthiness, but it's going to take a pretty persuasive argument. He was a great player, no question. But to me, aside from his 1987 MVP season, he hit more than 25 homers in a season just three times, and he only broke the 100-RBI mark three other times. And as for his 49 homers and 137 RBI in '87, remember, that's the year Matt Nokes nailed 32 homers. I'm not saying the baseballs were juiced, but you could order them with pulp or pulp-free that summer.

Lastly, Concepcion. He was a Hall of Fame shortstop in the field, and I'd really like to vote for him. But I keep coming back to the fact that his offensive numbers are just too weak.

Detroit's piston

Whether you think Trammell is a Hall of Famer, one thing is certain: The gulf between Trammell and Ozzie Smith certainly isn't as deep as last year's Hall of Fame vote total, that sent Smith to Cooperstown with a 91.7 percent mandate and left Trammell choking on fumes with just 15.7 percent of the vote.

But based on his low vote total, let's just say that Trammell won't be lying awake these last few nights before Hall election results are announced with great anticipation.

"One thing that has changed is I'm thinking about it less than I was last year," Trammell says, smiling. "First, I've got (the new job as Detroit's manager) on my mind, and the fact that I got only 16 percent of the vote last year. I don't see it happening for a long time, if ever.

"If I got 30 percent or 40 percent and was using that as a gauge, you'd think you'd move up a little bit each year. But 16 percent is really low. The way I analyze what that means to me is that I'm on the edge, and if I do make it, it won't be for a long time, so there's no sense in worrying about it."

Smith surely is a deserving first ballot Hall of Famer, but Trammell's offensive numbers were better across the board and, defensively, sure, Smith was better, but the difference wasn't that great. Trammell was a four-time Gold Glover.

Trammell out-hit Smith over his career, .285-.262, hit significantly more homers (185-28), knocked in more runs (1,003-793), out-slugged him (.415-.328) and had a better on-base percentage (.352-.337).

"As far as politicking or campaigning, that's not my style," Trammell says. "And it never will be. When you rank several players, I have some issues that are OK. I just feel the No. 1 way to do it is to rank players within their era."

In that regard, Trammell ranked with Ripken and Yount in changing the way we look at shortstops. That group in the 1980s taught us that the position could be more than a place for Gold Gloves and small sticks. Trammell, Ripken and Yount begat Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra.

"We were at the forefront," Trammell says. "You compare my numbers to the guys who played (shortstop) before, and they compare pretty darn favorably. But you compare them to the guys who are playing now, and they don't compare at all.

"I don't lose any sleep over it, to be honest. Just to be considered is an honor. If I started getting a higher percentage, then you'd have some anticipation and excitement. But when you're coming off of 16 percent, is it going to go up to 75 percent?"

Boss moves

It's already been a very busy offseason for George Steinbrenner, and we're not even talking about the Yankees' signings of Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui and Cuban refugee pitcher Jose Contreras.

No, in addition to his entertaining comments to the New York Daily News last week, in which he said he wants to see more leadership from Derek Jeter and criticized the shortstop for staying at a birthday party until 3 a.m. during the season, Steinbrenner also has:

• Sent a congratulatory letter to Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire following the Twins' playoff run, in which he seemed to take a veiled shot at his friend/sparring partner, commissioner Bud Selig. Gardenhire said he received the letter shortly after his club was bounced by Anaheim in October. "It said congratulations on the season and that he totally disagrees that we were an aberration," Gardenhire said. Selig, in pushing for a new economic system in the game, made Twins' fans blood boil several times over the past couple of seasons by calling the club's success an aberration. His larger point wasn't so much a swipe at the Twins as a plea that small-payroll clubs cannot sustain success.

• Purchased four season tickets to Tampa Bay Devil Rays games upon the club's hiring of Lou Piniella as its new manager. "He can help me make some pitching changes from time to time," Piniella joked. He also wants to make it clear that this is a good-natured joke. "Mr. Steinbrenner and I are good friends," said Piniella, whose first managing job was with the Yankees in two stints, 1986-1987 and again in 1988. "I'm managing because of him, plain and simple." Piniella also says Steinbrenner's season tickets are behind the third-base dugout "so he can take a good look in the first-base dugout (from which Piniella will be managing)."

Short hops

• Don't be surprised to see free-agent outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo , cut loose by the Giants, land with the Chicago Cubs at some point. "We've talked about Shinjo," says new Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who had Shinjo in San Francisco. "I've let it be known that I have great interest in Shinjo. He could be a guy who could spell Corey Patterson against tough left-handers. I really enjoyed having Shinjo on my team. He's a good fourth outfielder. Especially in Chicago, where it's cold (early) and there's the possibility of hamstring pulls."

• The behind-the-scenes feud between Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Boston CEO Larry Lucchino doesn't figure to end anytime soon after Lucchino again referred to the Yanks as the "Evil Empire" when they outbid the Red Sox for Cuban refugee pitcher Jose Contreras.

• While the Twins have been quiet this winter, it didn't stop their manager from making his own big free-agent acquisition. Ron Gardenhire, who bowls in a league with Kent Hrbek in the offseason, currently is rolling his brand new Swamp Master ball down the local Twin Cities lanes.