Bobby Valentine rips Hall of Fame voters
Written by Adrian Gregory Glover // January 12, 2013 // MLB // 2 Comments
Bobby Valentine is not the guy that you want championing your cause.
His history of reckless and outrageous behavior has rendered him as Major League’s Baseball’s village idiot.
On Friday he spoke with ESPN Las Vegas with Gridlock via Sports Radio Interviews and discussed his dismay with the lack of a 2013 hall of fame class.
“The reporters must have been at the computer and electronics show that you guys have going on out there in Vegas, and they must have got their wires mixed up,” Valentine said. “I was a little shocked, yeah. I think greatness should be respected and acknowledged as greatness.”
Valentine went on to say that the baseball media should not be in charge of the process.
“No, I don’t think the writers should be in charge of anything, as a matter of fact,” Valentine said. “I think you should have had been at games, should have some kind of credible knowledge of what’s going on during the era of which you’re voting. … I guess to vote, all you need to do is have 10 consecutive years as a sportswriter.”
“Some of these guys haven’t been at a ballpark in 20 years, some of them haven’t turned on the TV in 10, and yet they have a vote. I don’t get any of that. When they were in charge of this sanctuary, they were in charge because they were the only ones to view the games live. They were the only ones in St. Louis to watch Stan Musial; they were the only ones in New York Polo Grounds to watch Willie Mays. Now everyone watches and everyone has an opinion on it and that voting should be given to those who pass a test before they vote.”
“It’s the fans of the future that we’re handing over the game to and we’re handing these Hall of Fame inductees to,” Valentine said.
“I think that they should have some kind of voice. I’m not sure how you regulate that and how you make that happen, either. The world is closing in on us and the information age that we’ve lived in and now the computer age that we’re living in will solve all those problems.”
Valentine can at the very least sound rational when he feels like it, although many will disagree with his feelings on the divisive enigma that is Barry Bonds.
“Barry Bonds is the best player I’ve ever seen play,” Valentine said. ” How can he not be in the Hall of Fame? It just goes against thought and reason. And Clemens, if you’re supposed to dominate and era and that’s going to be your ticket to fame, I don’t think anyone dominated their era like Roger did. If you’re the best at your position, and you have a catcher who accumulated the statistics that Mike Piazza did as a catcher, or a second baseman who got 3,000 hits, how do you keep these guys out? I don’t get it.”
What do you think?
