It’s beyond me. I just listened to an interview on MLB Radio’s Under the Lights with MLB.com reporter Jim Street who has made up his mind who he will vote for in the Hall of Fame vote. He shared his ballot during his interview. It’s not often a radio guest frustrates me twice on separate … Continue reading “What goes on in the mind of a HOF voter?”
It’s beyond me.
I just listened to an interview on MLB Radio’s Under the Lights with MLB.com reporter Jim Street who has made up his mind who he will vote for in the Hall of Fame vote. He shared his ballot during his interview. It’s not often a radio guest frustrates me twice on separate issues but Street managed to do so.
Street tells us that he has voted for Garvey in the past and has voted for him again this year. One reason he claims is because of “his character” and what he did “off the field”. Fine. He’s a fan of Mr, Paternity Suit.
Then he’s asked about Jim Rice. Well, he says Rice “wasn’t the most cooperative” with the media and he wasn’t the most personable.
So he likes Steve Garvey’s off the field character despite the adultery and paternity suit but because Rice wasn’t nicey-nice with the media and was moody in general, he’s going to hold that against him. Forget the fact that there were racial tensions in Boston at the time and maybe Rice was just a moody kind of guy.
Then he goes on to talk about Mark McGwire. He’s not going to vote for Big Mac.
But don’t get the idea that he’s skipping Mac because of steroid issue. No, Street thinks based on McGwire’s stats alone he doesn’t belong. He insists he’s a one-dimensional player. Street even goes as far as to bring up the fact that McGwire only has 12 career stolen bases. Please.
According to Street, “this isn’t a homerun derby”.
I’m looking at Mark McGwire’s entry in Baseball Reference and his Appearances on Leaderboards section is a page and half long. And they’re not ALL related to homeruns.
Sportswriters, if you have a problem with McGwire’s alleged issue with steroids, be honest with it. But don’t justify it by saying that you wouldn’t vote for him anyway because “he only won one Gold Glove.” (another Jim Street gem)
Here’s the Under the Lights interview with Jim Street, MLB.com reporter (the interview is toward the end of the show)