Talk about the Hall of Fame seems to bring out the worst in a lot of people. And, no, I'm not just talking about perennial punching bag Murray Chass.
Remember Jerry Dowling? Yeah, he was the guy who labeled Craig Biggio a "cheater" and left him off his ballot because he wore a protective elbow brace.
Then there was Los Angeles Dodgers beat writer Ken Gurnick. Dude's defense of why he only voted for Jack Morris was so stupid, Chipper Jones, who, himself says plenty of dumb stuff…took him task on Twitter.
And btw, Jack Morris played against people on steroids, technically putting him in the steroid era. Some excuses make no sense!
— Chipper Jones (@RealCJ10) January 8, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Well, I hope you're sitting down.
Meet Dan Pietrafesa. Unlike Chass, Dowling and Gurnick, the writer for the Poughkeepsie Journal doesn't have a Hall of Fame vote (thank, God), but he's got an idea for the guys who do.
This is a plea to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to bend the rules. It’s been done before, so do it again.
Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera deserve to be inducted together into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
It’s the right thing to do. Jeter and Rivera came up through the New York Yankees organization together, won five World Series titles together with class on and off the field, and belong together on the stage in Cooperstown delivering their induction speeches on the same July day in 2019.
Yup. Dude wants the BBWAA to wave the five year waiting period so Jeter can go into the Hall of Fame before he should.
You know…just like New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig did!
So why not bend the rules? It’s been done before and for Yankee greats. Lou Gehrig — the only player on a special ballot — was elected in a special vote at the 1939 Winter Meetings because it was uncertain how much longer Gehrig would live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — now also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Even though I'm not a fan of the Bronx Bombers, I get the love for Jeter. I really do. The guy was the face of baseball for nearly twenty years and anchored five World Series champion teams, but until the longest tenured captain in Yankees team history cures Lou Gerhig's Disease…he gets to wait for his crack at Cooperstown.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
