Turns in BBWAA card in protest over 'roid cheats

And people were nicer to each other, and school lunches were more nutritious, and entertainment was more wholesome.... :

 

And I walked five miles to and from school every day.

Uphill.

In the snow.

Into the wind.

Both ways.

 

Not to mention wife beaters, child abusers, coke heads and racists.

 

Wow - I really don't get the (misplaced) seething disdain. It was his decision to make, and he made it. How does it hurt you? Pop a couple Paxils, it'll be okay.

 

I don't have a problem with the decision. It's the sanctimony of the whole thing. And the fact that writers who pine for the days when baseball was "pure" are annoying as shit.

Baseball's never been pure. No professional sport has ever been pure. Enjoy the sport for what it is, not for what you think it was when you were a kid.

 

"Baseball was cleaner back then, with a sense of purity that has been lost over these past two decades with the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and the arrival of steroids. "
Severely incorrect.

"And baseball's records matter the most."
Why?

Not to diminish what I am sure is an authentic act of conscience, but this piece is a perfect example of what's wrong with baseball's inflated sense of its own cultural importance, and of the kind of baseball writing that enables it.

 

My disdain wasn't misplaced. I could care less that he gave up his BBWAA card. Big deal. It was the illogicial thought process and grandstanding, look-at-me way he went about it that made me disdainful. Maybe he was jealous of all the attention Wada-Fainaru and Williams are getting and felt a need to become part of the story, too? Regardless, it's a dumbass gesture.

 

And we...LIKED it.

 

Here's what I would say to Dave Newhouse - aside from the fact that 55 and 57 Chevys are regarded as being more classic.

What is the impact of your decision? What are the consequences.

The consequences are that his resignation will make it easier for a "steroid cheat" to make it into the Hall of Fame. His vote excluding the steroid cheats might be the difference between 74 and 75 percent. Also, this thing needs a long discussion about the Hall of Fame.

You know, I think I know a good deal about baseball history and I wanted to cover major league baseball - and that never happened. I would tell you I never got a break, maybe I didn't have the temperment, whatever.

Man, if somebody didn't want their vote, I would be thrilled to study the issues, consider the candidates, and cast a vote.

 

The old-school hedline style of not having the subject of the sentence listed is kinda fitting for this thread.

 

But the problem with this thread's title is that it's not really accurate.

Nowhere in the column does he say he did it 'in protest.' He says he did it to make himself feel better.

Columns are written about personal crap everyday. Remember the guy in Orlando who wrote about his wife being a big sportsfan?

And doesn't Rushin write about Lobo almost every week?

As for his vote no longer being there... Aren't papers forcing guys to relinquish their votes all the time now? I thought I read somewhere that it's increasingly being viewed as a conflict of interest...

 

In that case I hope his illogical, grandstanding, dumbass gesture makes him feel better.