You may have heard Carlton Fisk is mad about Mark McGwire- he shares his thoughts in this Fred Mitchell piece.

After finishing this up, check out Joe Posnanski’s take, which includes a search for authentic numbers.  If you only read one thing from me this week, follow this link to the article.  And please remember, no one wants to give McGwire a free pass (at least I don’t think anyone does.)

I have been listening to the Joe Namath biography on tape (CD) lately, and they just reached the point where he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.   The debate goes back and forth about his yards and his lack of passes for touchdowns, also the number of interceptions he threw.  But one writer makes the point- its called the “Hall of Fame” not the Hall of Numbers. In the end Namath gets elected, in large part because of what he did for the AFL- because he was famous.

In baseball, it is the numbers that are important.  Its our way of comparing all the players that didn’t play against each other. Posnanski writes a bit about (possible reasons) why no one in baseball made a big deal about steroids.  Mark McGwire, whether anyone likes it or not, was a big part of bringing fans back to the game.  We can say he cheated.  But we can’t say we didn’t want to watch.  It is the Hall of Fame.