McGwire Frozen Out?I have to admit, I was somewhat
startled to discover that only 25% of the the electors for the Baseball Hall of Fame voted for Mark McGwire. I anticipated that he'd come close or make it; as it was he was only about 1/3rd of the way there.
Considering that these same voters were prepared to vote Pete Rose in despite his lifetime banishment from the game for gambling, it seems just a tad hypocritical. Of course, Rose was a reporter's player: somebody who loved to talk about the game after the game, a ready source of the quotes and insight that every sports reporter depends on. As I have observed many times in the past, if you want good press, talk to the press.
And, predictably, the reporter on this story brings up that exact point:
Meanwhile, as all this sportswriter soul-wringing has been spilling out, do you know what McGwire has been doing? What one of the most prolific home run hitters ever has been up to? What he has had to say?
Of course you do. He has done nothing. Said not a word. Not one objection. Not one word in his defense. Not one solitary peep. And that brings up the most important question in this sadly drawn-out saga.
If Mark McGwire doesn't care about his place in the Hall of Fame, why in the heck should we?
