Leigh Montville says eject Bill Conlin from the Hall of Fame

He wants the 2011 Spink Award rescinded.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/68054018/the-bbwaa-should-rescind-its-2011-award-to-bill-conlin

 

Good column. I agree.

If they are afraid to eject him from the Hall because then it could lead to players with unpleasant histories ejected, we should at least move them into a rogues gallery in some corner.

 

I agree with the column. And it reminds me that Montville is really good.

 

Nobody said he was.

 

They chose to award a boorish, pompous hack. They should live with it.

To strip him now (after he's dead) based on allegations that -- while certainly convincing -- were never aired in court, seems unfair.

 

Person in question is dead, right? Don't think she's he's going to care.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/3721074/

 

Actually, no. Spink Award winners are recognized in a display that appears in the Library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Montville advocates rescinding the award, which would then cause its removal from Hall of Fame property. In essence, Conlin would be ejected from property wholly owned and managed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Even if you don't understand that, perhaps you could appreciate the shorthand that's involved in saying someone is a "Hall of Fame writer" or a "Hall of Fame broadcaster?" I think there's an understanding of the policy that writers are broadcasters are not "inducted."

But since you went to the trouble to make <b>two</b> posts to belabor this niggling matter, I'm honored to place your name in nomination for The Great Hall of the Perpetually Officious. Full membership, of course. Nothing less will do.

 

Bill Conlin's work is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Therefore the subject of this thread is fine, and your tired semantics are incorrect.

 

Clarification: Conlin and the other Spink Award winners are recognized on the equivalent of a framed piece of paper. The only Spink Award winner with a display is the current one. If Conlin were stripped of the award, the Hall of Fame would basically do something akin to erasing one line from a piece of paper.

 

He's had so many handles. What hat will he wear on the plaque if he's inducted?

 

Everyone here knows that Conlin is NOT in the Hall of Fame, because it is pointed out quite condescendingly by someone EVERY time a writer is said to be in the Hall of Fame. Some folks just need to show how much smarter they are than everyone else.

As for the column itself, it's pretty damn solid, but not sure how I feel about him being erased from the Hall's records. It would open up quite the can of worms, but I certainly wouldn't feel bad if the honor was taken away. Seems like the evidence against him was pretty strong, and he never put up a fight to clear his name. I wouldn't have a problem with this as a one-time deal. And with it being a separate honor, it wouldn't have a bearing on the Hall's actual membership.

 

You got caught in a mistake and were called on it, champ.
Shut it and get down from the horse.