” What in the h___ is wrong with someone for them not to think Rickey Henderson is a Hall of Famer? ”
John wrote on Jan 7, 2009 8:44 AM:
” You are a disgrace to Journalism as well as Baseball. This is an obvious attempt to draw attention by omitting Henderson. ”
paj wrote on Jan 7, 2009 9:01 AM:
” Who are you Corky Simpson? Do you know ANYTHING about baseball? Your exclusion of Rickey Henderson is indefensible and frankly embarassing for you. ”
wamski wrote on Jan 7, 2009 9:08 AM:
” Are you kidding me? This guy should NOT be voting for the Hall of Fame. He is a joke. ”
Dave wrote on Jan 7, 2009 9:09 AM:
” Morons like this should have their votes taken away. “
There’s much more in this vein. (One of the more eloquent, from a commenter who dubbed him/herself “SimpsonSucks”: “Cork is a dork.”)
So…what’s it like to see your vote—and a column whose traditional audience is generally limited to retirees—met with such Web-based outrage?
Not so bad, actually. “It doesn’t bother me,” Simpson told me, “because, one, I’m too old, and my skin is too thick, and I’m a stubborn old mule from Missouri.”
And also because Simpson simply doesn’t spend much time on the Web, he says, so is pretty much immune to the heated rhetoric that often permeates its (virtually anonymous) conversations. “I think of the literature on the Internet in the same way that I think of the literature on the walls of public bathrooms,” Simpson says. “With the exception that the literature on the walls of public bathrooms is a little higher class.”
Simpson readily admits that the Henderson omission was an oversight (but: not a snub!). “I picked eight guys,” he says. “My mistake is that I could’ve picked two more, and I didn’t. And had I really used my brain, I would’ve picked two more guys, and I would’ve put Rickey Henderson on there for sure.”
Still, though, Simpson thinks, the anger directed at him is ridiculous. He’s just one guy, he says—his vote isn’t going to keep Henderson out of the HOF, so why make such a big deal about it? “No one in the history of baseball has ever gotten into the Hall of Fame on a unanimous vote,” he notes. “I mean, we’re talking about Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson—nobody. And if anyone out there thinks that Rickey Henderson can carry one of those guys’ shoes, he’s crazy.”
And he laughs off charges that the Henderson omission was a publicity stunt. “You couldn’t possibly sit down and say, ‘How could this ballot be controversial?’” Simpson says. His Rickey-less slate was a simple slip-up, nothing more. And the attempts to read more into it—publicity, senility, whatever—only validate, as far as Simpson is concerned, his take on the Web: “The Internet is like a sewer. It’s very necessary, but you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time there.”
This story illustrates yet another fading glory for the print media- the notion print reporters are the gatekeepers for our national pastimes, here baseball.
#1 Posted by Jay Clayton, CJR on Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 01:33 PM
Hey Jay,
Don't paint the entire print media with the brush of a 71-year-old codger who still calls himself "Corky," okay? ;-)
#2 Posted by Stephanie, CJR on Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 01:47 PM
Stephanie, you're right of course that one shouldn't take Corky as the spokesperson for All Print Media. However, there's a big split in the baseball writing community in particular along old media / new media lines with respect to the Hall of Fame.
So maybe Corky just happens to be a print journalist who isn't too careful about the reading and the check-box marking, but in the context of this larger divide -- which is about precisely the issue of whether old media sportswriters are diligent about fact-checking -- he looks like he's indicative of a very real trend in HoF thought among what some think are old-timey baseball writers.
Print baseball writers should be particularly aware of their image as out-of-touch with current analysis, is what I'm saying, in particular as related to the Hall. They're going to get stung disproportionately hard by this type of thing compared to journalists in general.
#3 Posted by Henry, CJR on Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 03:02 PM
It seems like Corky is trying to use his oversight of Rickey Henderson as a proper excuse. The fact that he "forgot" about him being on the ballot is scary enough. But to then go and try to validate his mistake by saying "So what if I didn't vote for him? He's getting in anyways" shows a sickening level of irresponsibility, perhaps even disrespect, for the amazing honor of being able cast votes for HoF induction.
On top of that, he goes on to basically say that it would be a travesty for Rickey to be voted in unanimously when others such as Mantle, Mays, Ruth etc. were not. Well, in my opinion, it was a travesty to begin with for those men not to be voted in unanimously as well. So do we continue to acknowledge those travesties with additional ones? It would be nice if we could recognize those mistakes of the past and attempt to put an end to them by unanimously voting in those who truly deserve it from this day forward. Sadly, I doubt we will ever see that happen.
#4 Posted by Mike, CJR on Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 05:02 PM
what was even more laughable and damning than leaving off henderson was simpson's voting for matt williams, who by any definition will only gain entry to the hall of fame by buying a ticket, and his incredibly weak explanation for that vote.
#5 Posted by matt, CJR on Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 06:36 PM
Umm, this old dude isn't much older than Rickey. He is like that fat pasty dude at your high school who joined the Masons, and the next youngest guy in the Klaven had been dead thirty years, of old age. This cokey douchebag thinks the internets are a sewer that is necessary but you don't want to spend too much time there? Are you sure he isn't talking about arizona? Oh wait, this dude is like white trash from Arizona. His HOF ballot probably has like, Jeff Kent, Cal Ripken, Gary Cooper (oh wait, I mean Gehrig or whatever), and a bunch of other fat white guys that chew Skoal and smoke winstons or whatever. But not Mike Kruk, too ethnic. KKKory probably forgot KKKoufax, too, because those people should retire to Florida, not Arizona. Yawn. Whatever. In twenty years when CorKKKy gets shipped off to the old folks home, the licensed vocational nurse filling his rectum with white manjuice will be black, or even mexican, or whatever. Life goes on. Props to this guy, we should all give COrky the respect he deserves. And blow a load his way if we have an extra.
#6 Posted by Jeff Kent, CJR on Tue 13 Jan 2009 at 06:42 AM
By eschewing all writing on the internet as something better left to the bathroom wall, Mr. Simpson only reinforces the notion that his time has passed. His generation failed to embrace the web correctly leading to the ultimate demise of the news in print. These same folks are the ones so surprised their laziness in HoF voting generates such angst. Certainly, there is much vitriol and useless malice on the internet. However, there is also a sea of information and thoughtful discussion, including web sites devoted to the HoF qualifications of various players. Perhaps if Mr. Simpson weren't so proud of being curmudgeonly, he would use this information to create an informed opinion and to consider his charge just a bit more seriously. Old dogs can be taught new tricks.
#7 Posted by Mike, CJR on Tue 13 Jan 2009 at 08:12 AM
Hmm. Corky doesn't even KNOW his stuff. Gehrig was unanimously voted in by the writers' association. No offense, but perhaps he should study baseball history a bit more before he gets on his high horse.
#8 Posted by Ben, CJR on Tue 13 Jan 2009 at 01:37 PM
This excuse holds no water. Rickey was in Corky's article, in a list of other people he didn't vote for. Plus, you should not have to rank Rickey 9th, and Matt Williams over Rickey is idiotic
#9 Posted by ajgrands, CJR on Tue 13 Jan 2009 at 05:11 PM
Hey, I'm with old Corky. Until MLB comes out with their confidential drug list I wouldn't vote for Jesus Christ himself. For example, old Ricky is the classic example of an athlete who got bigger, faster, and stronger as he got older. ie, did he get that way through drugs? I don't know, but until the list comes out I ain't voting for nobody, not even GOD!!! The Hall is too important!!! Right??? Give me a brake!!!
#10 Posted by Another Old Fart, CJR on Mon 23 Nov 2009 at 12:29 PM