If you respect umpires Caple, then act that way

Like many I have been looking at the mess around the lack of a single player inducted into the Baseball HOF in 2012.

What a joke on so many levels. First is the group who casts votes ... Baseball "writers." Come on ... other than siting on their a$$es watching and writing, what do they know about the game?

As evidenced by some recent articles, not all that much. In fact so much so the oft repeated expression about "... those who can't do ... teach." should be revised to "... those who can't do ... write about baseball."

It's no surprise that there were no players inducted into the HOF this year, and the overwhelming reason being bandied about it the "silent referendum" on the use of PEDs.

So who made the know little press experts on PEDs, their use, and the morality involved in those who are associated with them?

Well it's about cheating some say. Cheating? What about Gaylord Perry? Here is a player who was a known cheat for altering baseballs during the game ... and yet is in the Hall?

Yeah, but that's not dealing with PEDs.

Well neither is Clemens, or Bonds as both were cleared of any charges regarding PEDs (Bonds was convicted on an obstruction charge). Where's the beef guys? Are you telling me that a group of reporters knows better than our Criminal Justice system in determining guilt? Really? How incredibly arrogant of these writers.

What really frosted my cookie, and caused this rant was The HOF's future imperfect tense written by Jim Caple of ESPN. It's an excellent article worth a good read. One I largely agree with.

Where we depart in our opinions, is in his nearly mocking tone of the induction of Hank O'Day. Here is a guy who was a pitcher and umpire in MLB for 37 years. He worked the 2nd most number of games EVER in MLB history, and worked 10 World Series.

Caple's comment:

"Former umpire Hank O'Day, who, well, was an umpire."

Nice Caple. Here is someone who served the game for 1/3 of a century, and your comments amount to, yeah I guess those guys count too ... sort of.

How pathetic.

He continues with:
All of those "Hall of Famers" -- elected by something called the Pre-Integration Committee

Again, pathetic. These folks have just as much invested as players, and should be treated with just as much respect. Caple is called on to take responsibility for a daily baseball column, O'Day for a thousands of MLB games and 10 World Series. You do that math.

Now, trust me, I did not miss the satirical point of the article as fundamentally I agree with what he is saying, and enjoyed the article. What he did not need to do was skewer others (than players inducted) to make his point. Particularly those like O'Day, who served with distinction.

Of note from the article:

I mean, are these the sort of people we're going to honor with plaques on Cooperstown's walls rather than the players we cheered so lustily and who made us feel so good? Old owners who financially abused players and perpetuated racism (Ruppert, Charles Comiskey, Tom Yawkey)? Owners who moved teams 3,000 miles away from their fans (Walter O'Malley)? Owners who charged outrageous beer prices? Commissioners who were ineffective and stubbornly stuck in the past (Kuhn)? And umpires? I mean, I respect umpires, but c'mon.

The link points to a call that was missed back in 2009 from Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Twins. C'mon indeed. What does THAT call, have to do with anything?

The answer to Caple's rhetorical question about "... are these the sorts of people we're going to honor ..." is a resounding YES YOU MORON! Why not? I'm not a particular fan of some things some of these folks did either, but why do the media think they are imbued with the authority to make moral judgments?

Let's take O'Day just as one sliver of this ... his "crime" ... he was an umpire (cue dramatic music). Why shouldn't he be considered and fully accepted as a Hall of Famer? People should be in awe of such a record, not suggest he was just an umpire. Please.

People serve in different ways, and in this case to suggest anyone other than a player is not a real inductee is crap. I even extend this to the media folks who see fit to malign those who actually participate in weaving the fabric of the game's history, not just sit up on high, and wax pathetic on it.