Jim Rice was mean to the sportswriters and claims that's why it took him so long to get into the Hall of Fame.

"If you ask me, A-Rod was probably going to have problems with a lot of the writers on the character and sportsmanship issues, but his numbers would be just too overwhelming to deny him election to the Hall."

Gee, ya think his numbers get him into the Hall of Fame?

Even though us writers really dislike ARod, I guess we'd have no choice but to put him into the Hall of Fame. Because he hit 800 homeruns. Shucks. Kind of makes us feel powerless.


"Now, however, in light of the report that he tested positive for steroids in 2003, those numbers can no longer be believed, and it comes down to the matter of integrity. Until now, only A-Rod's persona wreaked of insincerity, and that wasn't enough to deny him a place in Cooperstown. Having his record suddenly deemed invalid is something else entirely."

I'm happy to hear that his persona of insincerity wasn't quite enough to deny him a place in Cooperstown.

That's really amazing to me.

Jeter is insincere.

Ripken is insincere.

Torre is as insincere as a person can possibly be, contradicting himself four times in the course of one sentence. Writing a book with Tom Verducci and then going on a promotional tour claiming that the book was written on Opposite Day, so everything he said to Verducci was the opposite of what he really meant (that joke courtesy of Steve Somers).


Do you know how many cheaters are in the freakin' Hall of Fame?

You writers are all cowards, I'm serious.

If Nolan Ryan threw one spitball, I want his plaque taken down.


"Even if the Sports Illustrated report is not further substantiated and denied by all the parties involved in baseball, A-Rod - who already had enough character and sincerity issues - has been irrevocably tarnished for life. He can continue to amass Hall-of-Fame caliber numbers, but he's not going there anymore than McGwire, Bonds, Clemens and the rest of the cheats who stained the game are going there."

That makes no sense.

If the SI report is unsubstantiated, then ... well, use logic to figure out the new conclusion.


Look, MLB will never have its Day of Reckoning.

The writers will never get the clean break they're looking for.

Madden is claiming that ARod's baseball achievements have been "irrevocably tarnished for life" and Madden is basing this claim on anonymous sources. I don't necessarily doubt the sources, but I know for a fact that their actions were illegal and I don't know if they had any particular axe to grind.

Madden's stance is quite absurd, and it's also quite lazy.

You're a HOF voter and your responsibility is sort through the conflicting data and try to determine whether a player is worthy.

I could be completely wrong about ARod, but I truly don't believe his career is built on steroids. I'd put him into the HOF without hesitation. Of course, he'd take his rightful place among many other cheaters who were also great ballplayers.