* This week in Sports Illustrated

April 29, 2009

The cover story of the May 4 issue features Joe Posnanski’s profile of Royals’ ace Zack Greinke.

Other baseball items include a look at the Dodgers; high school no-hitters and how they do (or don’t) predict pro success; a little girl who was perfect against the boys; and an essay wondering if baseball fans shouldn’t forgive those players who have made mistakes.

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Tagged as: Sports Illustrated

{ 3 comments }

1 * BeesGal April 30, 2009 at 1:00 pm: Hi Ron,
Thanks for the link. I especially liked the Bryan Curtis essay. I had similar thoughts awhile back. A bit of King Solomon’s Ring “This too shall pass,” albeit with a positive twist.
Signs of the Times.

I mean, do we really need more vitriol in the world? Does anger really give us more street cred, make us more savvy? Seems as though, more than ever right now, we need to show a little more forgiveness and a lot more compassion. . .BeesGal
2 ronkaplan April 30, 2009 at 2:33 pm: Do we need more vitriol? Of course not. And as much as we love the game, it is just that: a game. Yet people take it very seriously and feel betrayed when they feel betrayed by those in whom they have invested their time adn affection. Especially on the part of the writers who cast ballots for the HoF; they must feel even more duped, since they hang around these athletes so much.
3 *BeesGal April 30, 2009 at 10:37 pm: True enough. I appreciate the clarification. Even so, I still believe paid journalists are obligated to show particular care in maintaining professional distance from their subjects. Just as a teacher can’t take it personally when a student cheats, it seems to me journalists likewise must make the distinction between feeling disappointed versus betrayed. Back to the teacher metaphor, I would like to think professional journalists are role models for the rest of us amateurs. In a way, they are the ideal fans; their personal perspectives are informed by an extensive understanding of the inner workings of the game.

More analogies. If a sports journalist refuses to vote for McGwire because 1) he/she believes Big Mac cheated and 2) he/she passionately disapproves of that sort of thing, this decision seems both wonderfully human and perfectly reasonable. If he/she refuses to vote for McGwire because he/she feels personally betrayed, . . .hmmm, I just think someone’s crossed the line into a form of personal retribution. Reminds me of Teddy Ballgame and Dave Egan

Not that it’s easy, by any means, to figure out where that line is, what it looks like and yipes! when you’ve hit thin ice. And yet, isn’t this the difference between the All Star Team and the HOF? Isn’t professional credibility the reason why bloggers such as yours truly can vote for the former and not the latter? Which election is more valued? And for what reason? It is my rather simple-minded notion that nominating and voting for HOF candidates is the domain of sports journalists because they’ve earned this role on the basis of their professional credibility.

As the Egan example shows, any halfway decent reporter can easily craft a personal injury campaign disguised as “hard-hitting” journalism.” And besides, it generates website hits. (And we watch as “it sells papers” becomes another proverbial casualty of the 21st century.) When I lament what I consider inappropriate vitriol, it is not from a light-hearted, “Gee guys, can’t we just all get along?” Quite the opposite. Even if all they’re doing is writing about a game, sports journalists are still members of the Fourth Estate.” Thus, my expectations are in fact, rather serious.

Thanks again Ron for the thought-provoking dialog. To quote Roy Hobbs, “God I love this game.” . . .BeesGal