Thursday, October 24, 2002

Philly Enquirer sees through the Baseball Memorable Moment vote I knew that this "vote" would raise debates.  It's so incredibly clueless how people fail to realize (although the quote below does indeed realize) that people will vote for THEIR memorable moment based on at least a couple of factors:  That they were actually , like,  ALIVE and stuff when the event happened (the Jackie Robinson finishing 3rd complaint)  and they vote on the basis of what the media not so subtly suggests are the most memorable. The Philadephia Enquirer article includes these couple of observations: The voting by more than 1.1 million fans, underwritten by the MasterCard company, promoted by Fox Television and blessed by baseball during the pregame ceremony, served not only as a testament to Ripken, the Orioles' modern-day Iron Man. It also acknowledged the power of the TV and Internet generations. These generations, wooed by Internet balloting, dominated the election process just as they did in an earlier baseball promotion in which players such as the fifth-leading home-run hitter of all time, Frank Robinson; Hall of Famers such as Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente; and every Negro League great failed to make the fans' All-Century team, while present-day players such as Ken Griffey Jr., Roger Clemens and McGwire were honored. Said Dusty Baker, manager of the National League champion Giants: "Most people vote on their memorable moments that they were there to witness or [had] in their time or their generation." Jackie Robinson's integration of baseball, rendered just third in the fan voting, touched a nerve among those who will always view Robinson's contribution as something that transcended sports and changed the way America looked at race. The fact that Ripken won proves the "acknowledged the power of the TV and Internet generations" point.  Ripken's feat was played and hyped and replayed to unprecedented proportions,  far outreaching the actual "fondness" the event holds in just about any baseball fan's heart outside the Baltimore vicinity.  For them,  of course it was special,  just as Pete Rose's 4192nd hit was to me as a Cincinnati fan.  But consecutive games played is NOT something which has the possibility of standing up against the homerun record,  or Jackie Robinson,  or even Bobby Thompson.  Gehrig's speech blows Ripken away.  Clemente's death blows it away.  Bonds' 71st homer (a guy who I don't particularly admire,  save for his raw ability as a hitter) blows Ripken's record away.  Bonds didn't get it becuase he broke a whopping 3 year old record.  WOW!  It shouldn't take much gray matter to realize that a 3 year old record broken by a guy who nearly everybody outside of SanFrancisco thinks is a jerk (and probably the majority of people IN SanFrancsico) will not be recognized as providing a "near and dear to the heart" moment. If the vote had been an essay question with no "multiple choice" ,  I don't even think Ripken's streak would have been on the radar.  If the vote had been done on the ranking system,  that record would have so many rankings below 50 that it would have fallen way off the list.    6:55:26 AM