Soapbox Derby

Will the self-serving whining of our press corps ever cease?

In yesterday’s Tribune, columnist Rick Morrissey calls the waaaaah-mbulance because “many” readers disagreed with his anti-McGwire take:

McGwire fell far short Tuesday of being elected to the Hall of Fame because many of the voters were uncomfortable with honoring a man who might have used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. I didn’t have a vote this year, but I will next year and I won’t vote for McGwire until there is conclusive evidence he didn’t use steroids. Most of the available clues suggest he did.

Too flimsy for you? Well, we all bring different ideas and prejudices into the voting booth. It’s called being human…

What I’m saying about McGwire is that I think I know, but I don’t know for sure. Because of it, I can’t in good conscience put him in the Hall.

Many of you apparently are just fine with the possibility of a chemically enhanced, pumped-up power hitter getting inducted. I’m not. Many of you would rather see McGwire in Cooperstown until it’s proven he doesn’t belong there. I wouldn’t.

A columnist at ESPN.com believes the backlash against McGwire has been too harsh and too personal. Wrong. What was too personal was watching baseball turned into a muscle-man’s farce for about 20 years. A beautiful game had morphed in a basher’s ball by some players who thought they were above everything.

Utterly hilarious. Morrissey defends his opinion on the basis that it’s “human.” And I’m all for that. For once, I agree with him completely. We all have our points of view, and we can’t expect to agree all the time.

But while we have no right to crack on Morrissey for his opinion, he’s certainly ready to crack on us for disagreeing. Those of us who disagree with Morrissey are “just fine” having that big cheater McGwire, the guy who helped turn beautiful, pastoral, idyllic baseball into a farce, in the Hall of Fame.

Morrissey is “not” fine with that. And the tone of his piece is that he’s better than us because of that.

You know what? I’m fine with Morrissey not wanting McGwire in the Hall. I’m fine with anyone holding that opinion. I don’t agree with it, but I’m fine with it.

But I’m not fine with the pompous sermonizing that many people on the anti-McGwire side have subjected me to.

You can say, “I think there is enough evidence to convince me that McGwire has used steroids. I think that is cheating, and therefore I will not vote to induct him into the Hall of Fame.” That’s the starting point for a rational debate.

Or you can do what Morrissey does in this column, and say, “McGwire is a bad, bad person who ruined the game of baseball – and if you think a cheater like him is a Hall of Famer you must be fine with the idea of baseball being ruined by cheaters.” I don’t know what comes out of that, but I’m pretty sure it’s not rational.

Being irrational is part of being human, too. Unfortunately, we won’t resolve this issue until both sides get off their soapboxes and have a rational discussion…