It's Not Personal!

Not a baseball post per se, but a very nice bit that anyone engaging in the sort of discourse that Bob and I do should read.

There are a few people who we think are pretty dismal human beings, and we don't hesitate in saying so. There are a lot of other people who we think perhaps don't do their jobs optimally; but in saying so we don't mean to cast any aspersions on their character as a person. Paul Sullivan, as far as we know, is kind to stray puppies and helps little old ladies across the street; he's just a poor journalist. Pointing out the latter does not invalidate the former. Neifi Perez might well be a prince of a human being, but he's a godawful baseball player, and it's our duty to point it out. It's not personal.

Like Ebert, we wish that everything was perfect in the world and we'd never have to write a harsh word. Like Ebert, we recognize that it is our duty to call a shovel a shovel when we see it.

I once (ok, twice) referred to a nationally-distributed columnist as a blockhead. To our enormous surprise, it turned out that said columnist (ok, it's Jeff Pearlman) actually reads our stuff, and has sent several very kind and complimentary comments and e-mails. That's not only professional but a mark of a good person, and we like him. No matter what we think of his opinion of Barry Bonds.