A BASEBALL WRITER WITH GUTS!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Mark Faller: Nobody deserves my Hall of Fame vote this year

and my little dog, Faller.

My ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame 2013 election is in the mail.

It’s dutifully signed, has my Baseball Writers’ Association of America badge number recorded, all official.

What it does not have is a vote for a single player.

…I am choosing to speak loudly by using silence.

This is my way of expressing my anger to baseball. Angry that the powers-that-be turned their backs while this was going on. Angry that it took us so long to shine light on it.

If you think I’m being stubborn, illogical or naive, or you think I’m ducking the issue, you are welcome to those opinions. And here’s something else that might push you off the deep end: I probably won’t do the same thing next year.

…I don’t know what I’ll do next year, but I’m fairly sure I won’t send in a blank ballot. This one-year protest should make my point.

I admit to a tiny bit of guilt over possibly keeping out an innocent player by not voting, but I can live with it since there is no one I’d vote for who is in his 15th and final year of eligilibity. I’m not jeopardizing anyone’s legacy.

Frankly, I’d feel a whole lot guiltier checking the box next to the names of Bonds and Clemens and a few other guys. That can wait for another day — or never. Remains to be seen.

Unlike Bob Klapish, who used the excuse that he is not the one to police and Bud Selig did nothing, Mark Faller has decided not to reward the cheats and the creeps.  This encompasses the personalities of Bonds and Clemens.  I hope they sit and stew and are not elected.  EDB