The Baseball Writers' Association of America has spoken, sort of, failing to vote in a single candidate to the Hall of Fame for the first time in nearly four decades.
The resounding withholding of votes for first-time candidates Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, among others, can be roughly translated this way: "No way we're voting for you creeps this year, but don't worry, we will get over it (or retire and be replaced by younger scribes who don't know you are creeps) and vote you in after a short hissy fit."
There are many writers who staked out the high moral ground and declared candidates like Bonds and Clemens to be cheaters who didn't qualify for the Hall on "character". These voters are well aware of the avowed racists, drunks and cheaters already enshrined.
Local writer Matt Gelb, who doesn't have a vote and who generally is insightful, argued the Hall is just a museum, after all, not Mt. Olympus. Sorry, Matt, but the Hall really is about immortality.
Still others argue there is no way the writers should keep the all-time home run king and one of the greatest pitchers ever out of the Hall. This group probably includes more than a few who still feel Pete Rose should be admitted. (Enough on that subject...for now.)
In the end, the nay-sayers were bent on punishment for a number of transgressions, including their own failure to blow the whistle. Holier-than-thou-ism is among the first places of refuge for cowards.
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