HOF
The last two nights I've talked about taking Casey to the Hall of Fame some day.
I said baseball can't erase the steroid era, it happened. The stats count. The players are on the ballot. Players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens not only represent the best of the steroid era, but the best to ever play the game. The game must recognize this era in baseball history, as embarrassing as it may be.
We should be able to look at the plaque of a Clemens and Bonds and read their accomplishments, while also reading the controversy attached to their career.
Derrick Goold, of the St Louis Post Dispatch, actually wrote the plaques for the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Pete Rose and others. What is the downside?
Seeking full disclosure at Hall of Fame
Derrick Goold, St Louis Post Dispatch
Pete Rose's plaque:
Cincinnati, N.L., 1963-1978, 1984-86
Philadelphia, N.L., 1979-1983
Montreal, N.L., 1984
During a hard-charging career that earned him the nickname “Charlie” Hustle and spawned an entire generation of headfirst-sliding ballplayers, he established the all-time career hit record with 4,256 hits. A career .303 hitter, he won three batting titles, was selected to 17 All-Star Games, and won both the Rookie of the Year award in 1963 and an Most Valuable Player award in 1973. In 1989, he accepted a lifetime ban from baseball in response to claims he bet on baseball, including his own team. More than a decade later, he admitted to gambling on baseball.
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Bengals
Bengals were--and are---one year away
Dan Hoard
Look, nobody knows for sure if Andy is going to develop into one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, but I do think that his career if off to an outstanding start – especially when you consider that he inherited a team that was 4-12 the year before he arrived.
Browns interview Mike Zimmer
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Zimmer, 56, has long been respected as a coordinator, but has never been an NFL head coach. Last year, he interviewed for jobs with the Dolphins and Buccaneers, but received no offers and ultimately signed an extension with the Bengals.
On this date 1982: Brrrrrrrr...The Freezer Bowl
AFC Championship game: Bengals vs Chargers
More from NBC pregame, halftime and game action
Final minutes, celebration on field
Bengal Bomb Squad featured
Tailgate32.comThe Nati is up next for the crew, and things get started with a tailgate miracle courtesy of the Bengal Bomb Squad. Game day brings another round of surprises, from 5AM MC Hammer wakeup calls to goetta to the ceremonial burning of Carson Palmer jerseys, Mike and John get a real taste of the lives of the Bengals faithful.
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College/NFL
(USA Today photo)
A Brian Kelly jump to NFl would rock Notre Dame
Yahoo
For Philadelphia, there is risk all over this one. Kelly doesn't have a single day of NFL experience, either as a player or a coach. At the same time there's a simple and powerful angle to sell the fan base. Kelly wins. Everywhere. And he did it at programs that either hadn't ever achieved such success, or in the case of Notre Dame, not seen it for years.
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Cincinnati
Tuberville an unfair target?
Cincinnati.247sports.com
“Yellow Journalism” is a term used in media for a situation where the reporter presents little or no well-researched news and instead uses eye catching headlines to sell his product. Tommy Tuberville may be the victim of such a tactic both in print media and the on radio.
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Xavier
Shannon Russell has XU notes and a story about Brad Redford's hometown helping Sandy Hook.
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MLB
Let's face it: Hall of Fame is a mess
Jayson Stark, ESPN
It boggles the mind. Doesn't it? We were just presented the most star-studded Hall of Fame ballot in maybe 75 years. And NOBODY got elected?
It's enough to make you wonder: What kind of Hall of Fame are we building here?
Scrubbing of character clause among first reforms HOF needs
Yahoo
This wasn't just a referendum on steroids. It was one on the writers and their failure to recognize as long as they want the privilege of creating history, they must in doing so protect the worthy institution that finds them fit for the task. And considering the backlash following Wednesday's revelation that it wasn't just Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens who didn't pass muster but Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza and so many others, the 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America with Hall of Fame votes seem not to care about the damage they're doing.
Baseball's day of big weirdness
Wall Street Journal
There are days when baseball reminds people why it has captivated them for so many years. And there are days when baseball embarrasses itself. This wasn't either one of those kinds of days. This was just weird, awkward, at once uncomfortable and entertaining in a rubbernecking sort of way.
Piazza and Bagwell victims of writers' witch hunt
Bob Klapisch, NorthJersey.com
I can’t think of a bleaker moment in the history of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which on Wednesday used the Hall of Fame ballot as a vehicle to the Joe McCarthy Era. It’s not so much that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were kept out — I understand that argument — but it’s the witch-hunt mentality that destroyed innocents like Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell.
Time to overhaul the system
AJC
If the Cooperstown gatekeepers seek to take the vote away from the baseball writers association, I’m completely OK with that. The media’s job should be to provide coverage and perspective on news, not be the news. It’s why most major newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, no longer allow writers to vote in college football polls or season awards.
Bonds, Clemens will get it. Bet on it.
Jim Litke, AP
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will get into the Hall of Fame someday, and without using the side entrance, either.
It won't be because people forget, or even forgive, but because they won't care anymore. Everybody in every sport will be on some kind of performance-enhancer by then, the way they're all on "approved" supplements already. That day hasn't arrived, but you can see it from here.
Statement of Michael Weiner regarding today’s Hall of Fame election results
La Jolla, CA, Wednesday, January 9, 2013 ... Major League Baseball Players
Association Executive Director Michael Weiner today issued the following
statement regarding the Baseball Hall of Fame’s election results.
“Today’s news that those members of the BBWAA afforded the
privilege of casting ballots failed to elect even a single
player to the Hall of Fame is unfortunate, if not sad. Those
empowered to help the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum document
the history of the game failed to recognize the contributions
of several Hall of Fame worthy players. To ignore the historic
accomplishments of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, for example,
is hard to justify. Moreover, to penalize players exonerated
in legal proceedings -- and others never even implicated -- is
simply unfair. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best
players to have ever played the game. Several such players
were denied access to the Hall today. Hopefully this will be
rectified by future voting.”
Your 2013 Hall of Fame Class: Nobody (8th time overall, 1st time 1996)
Craig Biggo earned 68% of vote, falling short of induction by 39 votes.
Morris 67.7%
Bagwell 59.6
Piazza 57.8
Raines 52.2
L. Smith 47.7
Schilling 38.8%
Clemens 37.6
Bonds 36.2
E. Martines 35.9
Sosa 12.5
First time additions to next year's class includes: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent.
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Here is a Katherine Webb gallery.
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Reds
Top 10 Prospects
Baseball America
After cultivating a talented farm system, the Reds are reaping the dividends, with homegrown players like Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto serving as franchise cornerstones. The revitalization has been slow and steady. The Reds had one of the least-talented systems in baseball for most of the late 1990s and much of the early 2000s, largely because of poor drafts.
1. Billy Hamilton, ss/of
2. Robert Stephenson, rhp
3. Tony Cingrani, lhp
4. Daniel Corcino, rhp
5. Nick Travieso, rhp
6. Jesse Winker, of
7. J.J. Hoover, rhp
8. Ismael Guillon, lhp
9. Jonathan Reynoso, of
10. Dan Langfield, rhp
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