I can totally imagine a writer who didn't get along with Cobb leaving him off a Hall of Fame ballot for that reason. It happened to Ted Williams in MVP balloting, after all.
Thanks for the suggestion, dkpiatt. I agree that eight ballots makes for a less-than-satisfying election. That's the lowest total I've had, but there aren't usually more than ten or so.
I wouldn't have a problem with leaving the balloting open until 15 ballots are cast, as long as it didn't hold me up from continuing to play and simulate games in Pat's universe. I would hate for the urge to play some OOTP to converge with some uninterrupted time to do so, only to end up with me having to wait for someone to cast Hall of Fame ballot #15 so I can move the story along.
I'm getting the Class of 1930 ready to post, and hopefully it will be ready later this evening.