Cal.E.'s Korner

C. :Hey, D.C., I haven’t heard from you in a couple of days. Are you okay?

D.: Yes, Cal.E. I have been busy, though.

C.: So, what do you want to talk about today?

D.: Baseball.

C.: Not football? Your favorite sport in full swing so…

D.: But the World Series is going on right now.

C.: And your two favorite teams lost this weekend.

D.: Well… There is that. I just wanted to vent a little, though.

C.: Go ahead.

D.: Thank you. I suppose I’m a little out of sorts because, up until the last two years, the baseball playoffs, and many times the World Series. That didn’t hold true until about ten years ago, when the Astros took off, but ten years is about the length any dynasty can stay on top of its game.

C.: What about the New York Yankees?

D.: I’m talking about real-world teams that don’t have unlimited resources like the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers do. The rest of the teams must build through the draft and good trades.

C.: Which the Astros have done. They got Jeff Bagwell, a Hall of Fame first baseman for a washed-up relief pitcher and cash, and the got the best young hitter in baseball, Yordon Alverez, for another washed-up relief pitcher and more cash. I would say that the Astros are pretty shrewd when it comes to trades.

D.: They were, until recently. There is a movement on some sprots talk radio stations to try to rehire Gerry Hunsicker as the new general manager. He was the architect of the team that won the first World Series..

C.: Do you mean the team that engaged in the “worst thing to happen in baseball since the 1919 Black Sox Scandal”?

D.: Those three games really had an influence in the Astros season…no, wait, they didn’t. That brings up another topic I’d like to discuss.

I realize Chandler Rome was assigned to cover the Astros by his employer, The Athletic, but what he did was unprofessional. He talked to one person, who had been let go by the Astros, and took that story and ran with it.

C.: Should he have been a “homer” and not reported what Mike Fiers told him?

D.: No, he should have reported that, after getting at least two more sources from other teams. Reggie Jackson

estimated that over one-half of the teams in MLB had similar setups to the Astros.

Additionally, the Yankees had been caught cheating twice before that article came out, and the Red Sox once. They were using cell phones and apple watches, which Rob (he is not a) Man, Fred neveer acknpw;edged.

Ther is no mention of that in Rome’s article. That is why, when I hear him being interviewed on the radio,

I change stations. His words are worthless because he’s a lazy journalist The world has enough of those.

C.” Wow! I’ll sign you up to head up his fan club, then (he he).

D.: my point is this, Cal.E., Major League Baseball is highly hypocritical. The all-time leader in career hits, Pete Rose, received a lifetime ban from the Hall of Fame because he bet on baseball. First of all, Pete Rose is dead, so the lifetime ban should be lifted. Secondly, a hallowed member of the Hall of Fame, Micky Mantle, was temporarily banned from baseball when he and some of his partners opened a casino. Mantle was already in the Hall of Fame, as well he should have been. Add to this fact that The Mick was a lot nicer to other people than Rose was, and that shows a reason for him to be elected on his first ballot.

The all-time home run leader of MLB, Barry Bonds, is not in the Hall of Fame because he is suspected (never proven) to have taken steroids. Again, I believe his personality hinders him, but should that matter when it comes to on-the-field feats? .

Ty Cobb was as prickly a character as anyone in baseball, according to reports. Not only was he a known racist, but he also sharpened his metal cleats to punish middle infielders who tried to tag him out when he slid into second base. This was another first ballot hall of famer.

The man believed to be the best who ever played the game, Babe Ruth, has been vilified throughout history. However, The Babe visited hospitals and orphanages when he was not playing baseball. He also had two adopted daughters. If anyone ever deserved to be a unanimous choice for the honor of being elected to the Hall of Fame, it was Ruth. However, Mario Sots, an impressive relief pitcher, had three percent more votes than Ruth did.

Soto was as good or better than any relief pitcher who ever pitched in MLB, but he did not change the way the game was played. Ruth did that, as well as help promote the sport. Much like Mohammed Ali changed boxing for the better, Ruth changed Major League Baseball.

This has been D.C. Scott, with one man’s (correct) opinion.