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Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union reports that HOF voter Paul Ladewski of the Daily Southtown from Chicago has submitted a blank ballot to the BBWAA for the upcoming election. Ladewski refuses to vote for any player from "the steroid era." Further info here.
I think the real reason for Ladewski's stance is that when he was a kid, he read a biography of William Plumer.
Link via Baseball Think Factory.
The HOF balloting results will be announced Tuesday.
As I think more about this, I think Ladewski's stance isn't all that courageous, but really more self-serving. He can make himself the story and he accomplishes very little about the problem of PEDs in baseball. He is merely just declaring a generation of players "unclean" in his eyes, but ones from other eras get free passes despite all of the other problems of that time (such as segregation). It's very easy to condemn a whole group of people without having to investigate each one individually. Ladewski claims to have been a big baseball fan since the 1950s. If he was alive in 1942, he probably would have been a big fan of Japanese internment also.
I agree. While I'm not unsympathetic to the desire to avoid awarding cheaters, it's seems naive to think the existing HOF members are pristine and above reproach. I'm sure there are plenty of spitballers, sandpaper/emory boarders, pinetarers, sign-stealers, drug-users, etc. already in there.
"I refuse to vote for any veteran who played in that period, even if he was not a suspected (steroid) user," Ladewski wrote in an e-mail. "In my opinion, any such player had an obligation to blow the whistle in the best interests of the game, even if he did it anonymously.
"A player of (Tony Gwynn's) quality should receive 100 percent of the votes," one sportswriter said of Mr. Padre.
"I understand this is an unusually hard-line approach, but I believe it's my responsibility to uphold the Hall of Fame standards in whatever way necessary."
The Aberdeen IronBirds, owned by Ripken, used to be the Utica Blue Sox.
Somewhere along the line, journalists decided to become crusaders rather than journalists. I get into this debate with my family members (a few reporters and editors) all the time.
It may have always been this way, but it has gotten considerably worse.
14 - Does an IronBirds vs IronPigs matchup have any change of happening ever? Please??
16 17 18 - Agreed. Thank you 24/7 news channels...
Consuming alcohol was not illegal during prohibition. Producing and selling alcohol was illegal.
seeing as he is the authority on this matter, perhaps mr. ladewski would be kind enough to share.
i would hate to see someone squeak by in a HOF election because his or her career fell on cusp of the aforementioned time period unbeknownst to several ignorant members of the BWWAA.
Besides that it is the internal logic of his argument that is flawed. His criteria for judgement seems to be based upon a specious history rather than available facts. He cites a lack of evidence as his reason for not voting. What evidence does he require? Will he continue to use whatever metric he is using in the future?
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