Stupid Sanctimonious Prick

That could sum up Shank's entire career at the John Henry Boston Globe, but this piece of crap column has plenty of contradictions and a dash of holier than thou attitude.

How do we change Hall of Fame process?

The Hall of Fame vote has been announced. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas will be enshrined in Cooperstown this summer.

Some takeaways:

Local fanboy showing a provincial attitude? Check:

■ Big congrats to Glavine, a Billerica guy who had to choose between hockey and baseball. It will be a long time (probably never) before we see another young man from the Merrimack Valley grow up to win 300 games in the major leagues.

Submit a ballot of your own that has plenty of logical contradictions, then have the nerve to complain about other ballots? Check:

■ Sixteen of 571 voters did not vote for Maddux. These are 16 people who will not concede that Friday traditionally follows Thursday. They will dispute that penicillin was a good discovery for civilization. You know the thinking: two wrongs make a right. “Willie Mays wasn’t unanimous? I’ll be damned if I vote for Greg Maddux on the first ballot.”

But he'll sleep better knowing he's not the sole voter responsible for this omission:

■ Craig Biggio missed by two votes. He was named on 74.8 percent of the ballots. Thank God he missed by two votes, and not one. I did not vote for Biggio and it would have been tough to sleep at night knowing a single non-vote kept a guy out of Cooperstown.

Viewed that way, Shank, you bear half the 'responsibility' for Biggio not making the Hall of Fame. I do hope you manage to sleep comfortably until he's elected into the Hall.

Actually, no I don't...

...
■ Jack Morris is gone from the ballot. Morris was the poster child for old-school voters. He’s a 1980s star who had a high ERA (3.90) but still won 254 games, pitched 175 complete games, and was a World Series MVP. He is hereby turned over to the Veterans Committee. This makes the Stat Pack very happy.

At least part of Shank will sleep well at night knowing that, despite his best efforts, Jack Morris will eventually make it in, just not this year. And in the end, getting a good night's sleep is what really matters, isn't it? Nitey-nite, don't let the bedbugs bite!

Rich In Irony Department:

■ The vitriol in the Hall of Fame debate is officially off the charts. It’s way past, “You’re fat, you’re ugly.’’ Today the emboldened fanboys want votes stripped from those who disagree with Basement Nation. It’s not enough to disagree. It’s no longer, “I like Morris, you like Mussina.” It’s, “Vote the way I vote, or please die.’’ Truly an uncivil climate.

The poster child for Boston's intemperate sportswriters and columnists, everyone!

■ Sanctimonious? Out of touch? “Get Off My Lawn!’’ Thy name is BBWAA. No group is more easily ridiculed. That said, it would be nice if the legion of critics would come forward with solutions.

What is the answer to this flawed voting process?

According to Shank, it is not this guy:

■ The wildly talented Dan Le Batard of ESPN turns out to be the voter who chose to mock the system by turning over his vote to a website that exists solely for the purpose of embarrassing people.

Embarrassing people? One wonders if Shank is blissfully not self-aware of that concept or simply doesn't give a rat's ass. I vote for the latter...

A lot of hard-working men and women have been involved in this process for 75 years, and like the rest of us, Le Batard was fortunate to be included in the process.

Effecting change from within is difficult. Anonymous betrayal and ridicule is easy. A stand-up guy would have recused himself.

If you were Shank, who has apparently given this subject some level of thought as noted above, you'd think that Dan LeBatard's 'mock(ing) the system' might be one of the additional actions necessary to effect change or improvement in the process. Apparently not.