Yeah, yeah, the subject has been beaten to death. But still. Spent the morning reading all the comments from around the Web. Read about different writers' votes and their justifications. It's just all sour grapes as nothing can be done about the injustices inflicted on guys like McGwire and Raines, Blyleven and maybe even Trammell. Not feeling too bad for Alomar because he is a shoe in for next year. But still. Still reading about the spitting incident. Yeah, that Ty Cobb character was a peach too, right?
The trouble is that it is currently not fixable. Bud Selig isn't going to do anything. The writers aren't going to do anything. So we are stuck with this. We can't make it a fan's vote. That would be even worse. Look at the All Star picks as an example of how stupid that can be.
Here is how it should work. The writers get their votes. They you open up the voting process to the thousands of dedicated baseball bloggers who write consistently about their passion. Hey, we're out there. We're easy to find. We don't get paid (most of us) so there are no axes to grind. Yes, many bloggers are "homers" who write about their favorite teams. But so what? If they are writing regularly, they have knowledge about the game just as intimate as those who get paid to write (who many times are "homers" too). Perhaps we should not include those who swear too much and those that like hockey just as much as baseball (ducking from the inevitable swipe from eyebleaf). heh. All kidding aside, we couldn't do much worse than the average writer with credentials.
But it won't happen. We all get labeled as stat heads, tweet geeks or as amateurs. We aren't the real thing. The Fan disagrees. We are just as real as anyone who writes for ESPN or SI or MLB.com. We are a force and we know what we are talking about.
It's time for a new world order. The glory days of The Sporting News and the L. A. Times are never coming back. That's a shame, but that's a world as it evolves. It's tough to accept change. But after all, you have to turn the soil over once in a while if you want a better crop to grow. When it is obvious that the current crop isn't growing much that's ripe, it's time for a change.
The last two HOF votes prove it's time. Get over it.
2 comments:
Can't help but feel for Timmy Raines on a day like today.
I don't like how they let sports writers vote who don't write about baseball. There was a guy from the Tribune who only writes about college football and he got to vote. What's up with that? How is he qualified?
Tim Raines will never get nearly enough support to get in, but when you talk about the greatest leadoff hitters of all time he's up there. He was overshadowed by Henderson and he played for a team nobody cared about for most of his career. It's an absolute joke he'll never get in. I also think Kenny Lofton deserves consideration, but that'll never happen.
And since I know eyebleaf is a Blue Jays fan, I'll throw John Olerud's name out there. Severely underrated in his career.
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