Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot Released

Nope. But you asked what makes baseball so special -- well, they've been exempt from U.S. labor laws for almost a century; what makes them think they shouldn't be able to flaunt U.S. drugs laws, too? Congress hasn't stopped 'em yet ...

 

Fucking suckling apologism.

It's against the LAW. Individual players are most certainly NOT protected by the anti-trust exemption.

But you, and hundreds like you, cozy up with this brainless "It wasn't against the rules" drone line.

Some moron called the local drive-time radio show yesterday and said...."Maybe they will outlaw throwing pitches more than 95 miles per hour next year... then, no pitchers enter the Hall of Fame who threw 95 miles per hour?"

The (well-paid) host's response? "I'm with ya."

The intellectual dishonesty on the issue is sickening, and your anti-trust non-sequitur is an example of that. You fucking know that's not what the guy was asking.

 

Sure, it's a non-sequitur. And I'm not using the "it wasn't against the rules" line. And I'm not making excuses for the players. It's illegal, and they know it.

But you know what? Baseball has been above the law since before anyone in baseball today was ever born.

It's been above the law on antitrust. It's been above the law on labor. Why would anyone in baseball ever have reason to believe that baseball is not above the law on performance enhancers, too?

Ballplayers didn't create this culture -- they exploited it, but don't scapegoat them for a system that's been above the law their entire lives. Blame the lawmakers and blame management for turning a blind eye -- they're exploiting the system, too.

But don't act like the players are the ones who should get punished the most -- they're only doing what they're allowed to do ... because baseball's always been above the law. Always.

 

The very essence of apologism. I never fully grasped the meaning of the text beneath your avatar as it pertains to you ... not until just now.

Please enlighten the board... what crime WOULD a baseball player be responsible for in your eyes?

I just put the Jiffy Pop on.

 

I disagree. While baseball has certainly been treated differently as a result of a long-ago court decision (the anti-trust exemption) that is pretty universally considered flawed, it's a pretty long stretch to suggest that that created a climate in which baseball players felt they were "above" the law. We see professional athletes, including baseball players, arrested fairly regularly, afterall. My opinion is that a collosal failure of law enforcement on a local and federal level gave rise to illegal drugs becoming pervasive in the sport. When people notice a law is not being enforced, they react accordingly. The reaction of the federal government and Congress was to blame the sport for not creating its own laws rather than ask why existing laws hadn't been enforced. One or two highly publicized sting operations at the turn of the millenium would've worked wonders.

 

I blogged about this yesterday, but here's the short version. I won't be Selig's hatchetman. As a voter, I play the hand MLB deals. Pete Rose is off the ballot, so I don't vote for him. Until MLB kicks McGwire off the ballot, I feel I must consider his statistics without prejudice, whatever my personal opinion. I don't see a Hall vote as an excuse to play God.

 

I think that's a cop-out. It's the same reason Bonds won a billion MVPs when any reasonable person could surmise he was getting some help. There is reasonable doubt with McGwire and you have to keep him out until it's cleared up. Once he's in, he's in forever.

 

You're missing the part where if you keep some of them out without concrete evidence, you'd better keep the rest of them out. You're thinking that the "any reasonable person" test is good enough. It is not.

 

Playing God is a bit over the top. What you are trying to avoid is playing the steroids police. I've seen others take this tact of "that ain't my job" yet these same writers will complain about everything else MLB does.

MLB sets the schedules and like clockwork the "not enough World Series day games for the children" articles come out like clockwork. Well guess what - that's not your job either. Stop complaining because by your rationale - you aren't the schedule police either.

New ballpark - no complaints from you. You aren't an architect and you aren't the style and dimensions police.

New rule - no complaining there either. You aren't the rules police. Not your job mang.

Just give up on complaining about everything if you are going to cop out with the "not my job" bullshit. If this job has just come down to considering "his statistics without prejudice" then screw the BWAA and just hand the job over to a fucking computer. At least the computer won't try to sneak in a vote for Dante Bichette.

Strap on a pair of balls and vote like a man. Like a man who has eyes to see and a brain that can handle common sense.

[Anger not directed at Michael Gee but at the attitude that steroids aren't my problem to deal with crapola]