Some comments from the comments section.
Sparks:
I honestly always appreciated Piazza more as a person than a player. He was always a straight-up guy and seemed pretty grounded. As a player, he had the rock star quality, but in any given situation, I’d rather Alfonzo have the bat in his hands.
That said, we’re talking about a umpteenth-round draft pick that swung only with his arms and became the best-hitting catcher in the history of the game, so there’s certainly plenty of reason for suspicion. On the other hand, Piazza didn’t have an especially long career, never won an MVP, and really only meant what he meant to his own team and its fans, so even if he did juice, he’s still not in the same category as Bonds or Clemens in terms of the shadow he cast.
The whole issue is sticky, no way around it. One big question is who was originally cheating vs. who was just trying to keep up with those who were. If I know certain pitchers in my division are ‘roided up, do I just shrug my shoulders about the unfairness of it all, or do I do what I need to do to even things out? I once heard someone on MLB Home Plate hypothesize that Bonds only got on the juice after he saw erstwhile nobodies like Sosa becoming folk heroes and signing big contracts.
The only thing we can ask is that the voters decide what their own criteria is going to be and stick with it from player to player and ballot to ballot.
I maintain that it is silly to have a baseball museum in it and keep out all the famous people and the holders of the major records. Surely a museum can figure out a way to provide historical context and their exhibit.
UWS Mets Fan:
I suspect Rubin’s point here — as I, too, detect a bit of an edge — is that Alderson seems to be avoiding media interviews where he can be grilled by experienced reporters in favor of “missives” to fans where there is little ability to question or follow-up. If that’s how a beat reporter perceives things, as a fan, I want to know about that. And yes, I realize Alderson has been more open to questions from bloggers, via Twitter, etc. But there is an art in pressing someone for answers when they don’t address a question straight on, and experienced reporters tend to be good at it. So let them do their jobs.
Fair point about the follow-ups. The blogger format has been one question then pass to the next guy. However, I wouldn’t “go after” Sandy anyway. (Similarly, when Dave Howard and I catch a game I don’t plan to bust his chops for three hours, I’d actually just like to get to know the guy and talk about baseball.)
I don’t think Sandy is ducking anyone, but I haven’t tried to call him nor have I ever been a beat reporter. I think Sandy took part in the Mets’ new social media initiatives and Adam sent him a message the way I might say “man, I can’t believe there’s no milk” to nobody while my wife is within earshot.
