Let's face it, the guys that vote for the Ford Frick Award never heard Tom Cheek. Likely most of them never heard Tim McCarver either.
I say this every year, but it really doesn't matter that Tom Cheek didn't win the award, it doesn't change what he meant to the people that listened to him. We all know what he meant to us. So a bunch of guys that never heard his voice think that he doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame? Is their opinion worth any more than ours? I don't think so.
Now Tim McCarver? There is no way anyone that actually has listened to him could vote him into the Hall. He was hard to listen to. You really had to like the basebal to get through any game he was on. If he is in the Hall, I don't know if it is an honor that we should want.
The Flick Award is no gauge of ability. We know that. As much as I think it would be good if Tom Cheek was in the Hall but it wouldn't change what I think about it, just the same as it doesn't change what I think of Tim McCarver.