There are days, many days, when Amy Winehouse, Nick Nolte and a gaggle of Trappist monks would vote with more responsibly than sports media people. How do 154 nitwits omit Tim Tebow from the top three on their Heisman Trophy ballots? Where do 28 voters get off eliminating Rickey Henderson as a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Why does a baseball beat writer in Chicago embarrass his profession by blessing the decidedly unspectacular A.J. Pierzynski -- his go-to source and BFF -- with a lonely 10th-place MVP vote?We should be reporting the news. We should be commenting on the news. We shouldn't be screwing up the news, especially if stupidity, favoritism and hanky-panky are tainting something as sacred as a personal award. When Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez finishes fourth in National League Rookie of the Year balloting -- a nice honor if he actually was a rookie, as three writers mistakenly assumed -- you know the process is wacked.
So it's gratifying to know that in one vitally important case study, the historic electoral drama of Mark McGwire and the Baseball Hall of Fame, I can express strong appreciation for my professional brethren. On Monday, as Cooperstown's velvet ropes lifted for Henderson and Jim Rice, the more powerful story line was the sight of McGwire's numbers shrinking much like his head and body. In Year 3 of eligibility, he actually lost votes this time, receiving support on only 118 ballots (21.9 percent) after managing 128 in each earlier attempt.
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