I have closed comments on the prior thread and they’ll be closed on this one as well.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak to several people involved in the BBWAA’s decision. It appears to me now that there is (are?) a lot of politics involved in that group and I’m just not aware of all of the angles people are playing. I intended my last post to try to calm things down, and instead, I have clearly inflamed matters. At this point, I think it’s best for everyone if I close this part of the discussion.
I want to thank all those of you who’ve offered your support. As I said in the last post, I’m confident this is all going to work out at some point down the road. But I’m not comfortable with the turn the discussions have taken, to an “us vs. them” mentality. The comments I’ve been getting on the prior thread are getting slightly more nasty with each turn, and I don’t want that here. I’ve also been told by a few people that some supporters of Rob Neyer and myself are emailing BBWAA members with some strident and occasionally nasty comments. Please, please, don’t do this. It helps no one. And since I don’t like it when ESPN.com readers are nasty with me, I don’t want to encourage anyone to be nasty with anyone else.
Let’s hope the next time you hear from me on the subject, it’s a post with a photo of me holding a BBWAA membership card. Until then, I’m not saying anything more on the subject.