Baseball Writers

Pete Rose has asked baseball writers not to use the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in July as a vehicle for protesting changes in the balloting procedure.In a letter to Jack Lang, secretary of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Rose also askee the writers not bo boycott the voting.The Hall of Fame's board of directors voted in kFebruary, over the objection of Lang and many of his colleagues, to remove from the ballot any player banned for life from baseball.Rose was barred in 1989 for betting on baseball games and subsequently served prison time for failing to pay taxes on money made from gambling and selling memorabilia.

Many character issues Juan C. Rodriguez Sun Sentinel It won't happen soon. Clemens' acquittal probably sways some voters on the fence about his candidacy. It won't put a big enough dent into the broader cross-section of writers who aren't prepared to induct anyone with strong links, circumstantial or otherwise, to the steroid era. The government did not fail to prove Clemens took steroids or human growth hormone. It failed to prove he perjured himself in front of Congress.

NEW YORK -- Sammy Sosa finally found a way to get ahead of Mark McGwire and stay ahead.After losing out to McGwire in the historic race for the home run record this past season, Sosa yesterday beat his friendly adversary in the race for National League Most Valuable Player.The result brought a conclusion to the scintillating competition between the two sluggers that raged throughout the summer and captivated the American public. In their race to break Roger Maris' record of 61 homers, Sosa held only two short-lived leads.

Every baseball fan knew this day would come, and yet yesterday's announcement that Cal Ripken Jr. has been chosen for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame packed an emotional wallop, particularly for this city. The two-time Most Valuable Player deserved the overwhelming first-ballot acceptance he received; his streak of 2,632 consecutive games played will likely never be broken, and his solid career numbers, 431 homers and 3,184 hits, could justify his entry alone, especially when compared with other shortstops.

Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa was named American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America yesterday, finishing well ahead of Milwaukee Brewers manager Phil Garner and Orioles manager Johnny Oates.La Russa, who guided a bruised and battered A's team to the American League West title, received 25 first-place votes and 132 points. Garner, whose Brewers club made a late run at the AL East title, got two first-place votes and 76 points to finish second.

Summer of discontent for 9th year in a row Summer is upon us, a third of the baseball season has whizzed by, and the Orioles' dwindling faithful are desperately searching for ways to avert our attention from the team's record. We as fans have been through this drill so long now, we seem steeled by the team's performance. We keep hearing this will be "year nine" for consecutive losing seasons. It makes .500 baseball sound like horsehide nirvana. It shouldn't be like this. Mr. Angelos seems to accept this team's mediocrity as some form of overachievement.

WE KNOW EDDIE Murray could be a grouch -- to the media, not to his teammates or coaches, who seem to universally revere Murray's professionalism. But how do we describe the 73 baseball writers who failed to vote for Murray as a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Maybe Murray was right about sportswriters. We can't be trusted. That is certainly one way to read the voting results of the 2003 Hall of Fame inductees, announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America yesterday. Only the switch-hitting first baseman Murray and catcher Gary Carter passed through baseball writers' purgatory into the immortal realm, but there is something slightly foul about this winter's balloting.

The incarceration of Pete Rose brought baseball moralists out of the woodwork by the thousands and kicked off a lively debate.The question at the time was this:Should a convicted felon be allowed entrance into the Hall of Fame?It was a legitimate question with legitimate arguments on both sides, but the answer didn't figure to arrive until Rose's name was placed on the ballot in 1992 and the approximately 450 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America had their say.Now, there is speculation that an answer will come much sooner than that, when a committee of nine meets in December or January to review the Hall of Fame selection process.

Baseball writers received their Hall of Fame ballots recently, and some of them have sworn to do the job usually performed by custodians: They have promised to keep the hall clean. The housecleaning has become an issue because, along with worthy candidates such as Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr., the sportswriters must consider Mark McGwire. In 1998, Mr. McGwire hit a then-record 70 home runs, a feat that since has been tarnished by allegations that he used steroids. He had a chance last spring to refute those charges before a House committee investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball; he refused, saying, "I'm not here to discuss the past."

Many character issues Juan C. Rodriguez Sun Sentinel It won't happen soon. Clemens' acquittal probably sways some voters on the fence about his candidacy. It won't put a big enough dent into the broader cross-section of writers who aren't prepared to induct anyone with strong links, circumstantial or otherwise, to the steroid era. The government did not fail to prove Clemens took steroids or human growth hormone. It failed to prove he perjured himself in front of Congress.

Baseball writers received their Hall of Fame ballots recently, and some of them have sworn to do the job usually performed by custodians: They have promised to keep the hall clean. The housecleaning has become an issue because, along with worthy candidates such as Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr., the sportswriters must consider Mark McGwire. In 1998, Mr. McGwire hit a then-record 70 home runs, a feat that since has been tarnished by allegations that he used steroids. He had a chance last spring to refute those charges before a House committee investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball; he refused, saying, "I'm not here to discuss the past."

Hours at a time, baseball writers stand in clubhouses with notebooks and tape recorders waiting for players to offer pearls of wisdom. Most times, we get nothing. Cliches. Brief answers. Nasty stares if the questions are particularly stupid or the one being interviewed is particularly surly. Occasionally, though, ballplayers and managers fill it up with introspective stuff, funny stuff, bizarre stuff. The reigning king, of course, is Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who already has a book of quotes published.

Summer of discontent for 9th year in a row Summer is upon us, a third of the baseball season has whizzed by, and the Orioles' dwindling faithful are desperately searching for ways to avert our attention from the team's record. We as fans have been through this drill so long now, we seem steeled by the team's performance. We keep hearing this will be "year nine" for consecutive losing seasons. It makes .500 baseball sound like horsehide nirvana. It shouldn't be like this. Mr. Angelos seems to accept this team's mediocrity as some form of overachievement.

Fantasy baseball players, I give you a simple task: Ignore most of what you see and hear from baseball writers over the next six weeks. OK, so I'm overstating to get at a more general point. Come November, passionate baseball fans begin counting the days to that glorious February morning when pitchers and catchers report. By the time we reach that day, which arrives later this week, we're incredibly thirsty for new baseball content. Baseball writers are equally eager to shovel new material our way. So every little happening in spring training is magnified.

Free Bert Blyleven! Don't worry, the 6-foot-3 native of Holland hasn't been seized by leftist guerrillas or anything. By most standards, Blyleven, who pitched 22 seasons for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and California Angels and now broadcasts for the Twins, has led a charmed life. But make no mistake, Blyleven resides in a kind of purgatory, that limbo of indisputably excellent ballplayers who, for whatever reason, never left strong impressions on the seamhead masses.

The debate was supposed to have ended on that night last month in Seattle when Rafael Palmeiro stroked his 3,000th hit, a well-placed double that bounced in front of the left field fence at Safeco Field, a spot in baseball immortality landing with it. As one of four players with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, Palmeiro - who has had a career cast in the background for so many years - appeared to be destined for baseball's Hall of Fame. That, at least, was the prevailing opinion until less than a week ago when the Orioles first baseman was suspended for 10 days on Monday after testing positive for steroids, making him - according to the results of a Tribune Publishing newspapers survey - now a long shot to gain admission to the halls of Cooperstown, N.Y. In the survey, conducted among 147 of the approximately 500 Baseball Writers' Association of America members who are eligible to vote on Hall of Fame entry, only 20 percent of the respondents said they would vote to elect Palmeiro.

We're supposed to feel insulted, those of us who vote in the annual election for baseball's Hall of Fame. It's clear that the Lords of Baseball don't trust us to do the right thing when it comes to Pete Rose.Bowie Kuhn, Jim Campbell and another 10 barely breathing members of the Hall's board of directors yesterday unanimously voted to keep all the permanently ineligible players (Rose is the only living member of this Bad Boy Club) off the Hall of Fame ballot.Baseball writers across the land are up in arms.

Dan Connolly joined The Sun in 2005. Prior to his arrival in Baltimore, he previously covered baseball and was a columnist for the York (Pa.) Daily Record four four years. His 14-year career also includes stints at Coatesville and Williamsport, Pa. newspapers Confused in OPACY, Baltimore: With all these balks, I'm not sure what they were doing wrong. In order to pick off a runner, the pitcher has to step off the rubber before doing anything else. If he moves his shoulders or hand before stepping off, he has to throw home?

THE SUN'S annual Major League Baseball preview section appears in today's editions. It remains part of the annual rite of passage for many Orioles fans who can't wait for the regular season to begin. But when thousands of spectators stream into Camden Yards tomorrow for the season opener against Oakland, many will feel a sense of trepidation - not only about the Orioles' chances in the powerful American League East, but also about the character of the team and the game of baseball itself.