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Wait, I'm a ...
Doesn't matter. Baseball writers are all annoying. But if you want to see just how annoying we can get, look at this list of Hall of Fame ballots from MLB.com writers. The tiers of annoying:
Tier one: Not voting for Bonds
Okay, fine, you don't believe anyone who touched steroids should be in the Hall. But I was following the game closely back then, too. When I went to spring training in 2000, I saw Barry Bonds up close. He looked like he swallowed the Ultimate Warrior. I turned to my friend and said, "Ha ha, looks like someone's jealous of Sosa and McGwire."
Because everyone knew. It was a part of the game. It was codified, if not accepted. In the pre-BALCO days, it was a winky winky. When a reporter questioned McGwire's jar of andro, he was excoriated by other writers.
In that era, there was no one better than Bonds. The discussion wasn't about workplace ethics and being a role model. That stuff was a sidebar.
As such, I just don't get how the hindsight helps the Hall of Fame be a better museum. It's a part of the story. Tell it. Feel duped, writers? Well, we all should. It was a weird period of the game, when science outpaced our expectations. I'm still uncomfortable with PED use, especially today, when there are so many players who are clearly unwilling to take them because of the stigma, penalties, and/or health concerns.
But back then, everyone was letting it fly, and it wasn't hard to see. The time for discussion was back then. Once that time passed, I don't get what retroactive scarlet esses are going to accomplish.
Tier two: Not voting for Bonds ... but voting for Rafael Palmeiro
I can at least understand the PED-loathers. This dude is just weird.
TOM SINGER, Pirates beat reporter
Biggio, Glavine, Maddux, Martinez, Mussina, Palmeiro, Smith, Thomas....
Palmeiro was a consistent marvel long before he was caught doping.
But Clemens and Bonds were just a couple of shnooks. Weirdo.
Also, Lee Smith. Yeah, that's why I watched baseball in the '80s. Lee Smith. He was way more interesting and valuable than Tim Raines. Mmm-hmm.
Tier three: MORRIS
KEN GURNICK, Dodgers beat reporter
MorrisMorris has flaws -- a 3.90 ERA, for example. But he gets my vote for more than a decade of ace performance that included three 20-win seasons, Cy Young Award votes in seven seasons and Most Valuable Player Award votes in five. As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them.
Here's a list of every plate appearance Mark McGwire had against Jack Morris. There were 43, spanning six seasons. So ... Morris did play during the period of PED use. Why didn't he take them? Look at that thick, lustrous mustache. That's a smoking, virile gun right there.
(Not really.)
(But come on, man. Think.)
Greg Maddux isn't going to be unanimous because he paunched his way through the PED era. Cool logic there, no-logic.
With every year Bonds doesn't get in, I'm starting to hate the process more and more. And I love arguing about stupid, meaningless stuff, too. This is right up my alley. But it hurts the brain. Oh, goodness, how it hurts the brain.
Vote for Bonds, you dinks.
At least vote for Tim Raines and Alan Trammell.
I'll be in the tub ...
