Josh W
07-15-2004, 04:23 AM
I was talking with my brother tonight about these people who think so and so should be in the HOF, and who shouldn't be, and, well, wouldn't the world be great if we all had votes.
My thing is....there are too many players in the HOF. And, I think a lot of it is because of the thought process spelled out in previous threads...ya know "If these guys are in, then my guy certainly belongs too, cuz he had as many HR". Whatever.
And don't get me started on Pete Rose. Look, MLB CANNOT let Rose in. Period. See, once upon a time, baseball was really tarnished because of betting on games. This, of course, involved Shoeless Joe (whom I'm on the fence about, oh by the way). Then, MLB came out and said "our cardinal rule is that you CANNOT bet on the games".
Cardinal rule. Self imposed. See, the Department of Justice didn't come to MLB and say "gee, it sure would be nice if you guys tried to squelch gambling". No. That didn't happen. MLB said "this is our number one rule". Corking bats isn't MLB enemy #1. Scuffing balls isn't MLB enemy #1. No. BETTING ON BASEBALL is MLB enemy #1.
So, some dude bets on the games. Maybe his own, maybe not. Who cares. He lies about it for a decade, then comes clean. He does what he can to evoke sympathy from the public, even naming his book "a prison without bars" or some such nonsense.
Now, if MLB lets rose in, then they are saying "remember that #1 rule we set forth? remember that rule that we said you'd better not ever never ever break? we were just kidding". That would be bad.
Look, I'm not saying that MLB should have betting on games as their cardinal sin. make the cardinal rule "no spitballs", kick Gaylord Perry outta the HOF, and make it so there are no mariners in there. Fine. do it. BUT UNTIL MLB DECIDES ON A NEW 'CARDINAL RULE', THEY CANNOT ALLOW ROSE IN.
Which is good, cuz when having this conversation with my bro, I had to state that there are simply too many already in the HOF.
There should be simple criteria that must be met. And I don't mean silly things like "500 HR", "3000 hits", "300 wins". I mean SIMPLE criteria, like:
1.) Josh has heard of him.
2.) He was never part of the "killer B's" along side Bobby Bonilla.
3.) He set a record at somepoint.
4.) He didn't spit on umpires.
5.) He never wore pinstripes.
6.) He doesn't have multiple simultaneous wives.
7.) He didn't get ROCKED in the first inning of an allstar game in 2004.
That should about do it. Oh yeah, one more.
8.) He didn't break THE SELF IMPOSED CARDINAL RULE OF MLB.
Glad we had this talk.
Josh
My thing is....there are too many players in the HOF. And, I think a lot of it is because of the thought process spelled out in previous threads...ya know "If these guys are in, then my guy certainly belongs too, cuz he had as many HR". Whatever.
And don't get me started on Pete Rose. Look, MLB CANNOT let Rose in. Period. See, once upon a time, baseball was really tarnished because of betting on games. This, of course, involved Shoeless Joe (whom I'm on the fence about, oh by the way). Then, MLB came out and said "our cardinal rule is that you CANNOT bet on the games".
Cardinal rule. Self imposed. See, the Department of Justice didn't come to MLB and say "gee, it sure would be nice if you guys tried to squelch gambling". No. That didn't happen. MLB said "this is our number one rule". Corking bats isn't MLB enemy #1. Scuffing balls isn't MLB enemy #1. No. BETTING ON BASEBALL is MLB enemy #1.
So, some dude bets on the games. Maybe his own, maybe not. Who cares. He lies about it for a decade, then comes clean. He does what he can to evoke sympathy from the public, even naming his book "a prison without bars" or some such nonsense.
Now, if MLB lets rose in, then they are saying "remember that #1 rule we set forth? remember that rule that we said you'd better not ever never ever break? we were just kidding". That would be bad.
Look, I'm not saying that MLB should have betting on games as their cardinal sin. make the cardinal rule "no spitballs", kick Gaylord Perry outta the HOF, and make it so there are no mariners in there. Fine. do it. BUT UNTIL MLB DECIDES ON A NEW 'CARDINAL RULE', THEY CANNOT ALLOW ROSE IN.
Which is good, cuz when having this conversation with my bro, I had to state that there are simply too many already in the HOF.
There should be simple criteria that must be met. And I don't mean silly things like "500 HR", "3000 hits", "300 wins". I mean SIMPLE criteria, like:
1.) Josh has heard of him.
2.) He was never part of the "killer B's" along side Bobby Bonilla.
3.) He set a record at somepoint.
4.) He didn't spit on umpires.
5.) He never wore pinstripes.
6.) He doesn't have multiple simultaneous wives.
7.) He didn't get ROCKED in the first inning of an allstar game in 2004.
That should about do it. Oh yeah, one more.
8.) He didn't break THE SELF IMPOSED CARDINAL RULE OF MLB.
Glad we had this talk.
Josh