Happy St. Paddy's Day.

     While the Reds were the first team to wear the green on St. Patrick's Day in the 1970s, it was that 1990 Classic card with Mike Schmidt in the middle there that showed collectors the uniform possibilities of the 17th of March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the years, it has become a tradition for teams to wear green today (except for the A's who almost always wear it no matter what city they are in). And hey, even I am wearing my green shamrock-clad David Wright shirtsy today, lest I chance getting pinched. 

The Fourth (Verse).

O Beautiful


for patriot dream


That sees beyond the years


Thine alabaster cities gleam



Undimmed by human tears!


America! America!


God shed His grace on thee


And crown thy good with brotherhood


From sea to shining sea!

Sanctimony.

       Attention baseball writers: eat a bag of dicks. You are not the story, you are not the arbiters of morality, and - let's be honest here - you are tilting the rules only so it suits you. If Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Gaylord Perry, Whitey Ford, and Pud Galvin are all in the Hall of Fame, than all of this eras players can be too. (except for Rafael Palmerio, fuck that guy.)

I mean, hey, if Tom Yawkey and Kenesaw Mountain Landis are your moral pillars, I am shocked Hank Aaron and Willie Mays ever got in the Hall.

Basically, with members like Bill Conlin, the baseball writers have said that it is just fine to have sex with children but even the suspicion of steroids?  No way, Jose.

My real issue is the baseball writers applying arbitrary morality to the whole thing.   Racists and wife beaters and amphetamine users and on-the-field cheaters are fine, but if you used STEROIDS - oh noes! lordy lordy! What about the sanctity of the game? What about the children?  Give me a fucking break. 

/mini rant

Why is Mike Schmidt here?  Because he said in an interview that if they were around when he was a young player, he absolutely would have used steroids.  I think it is time for us all to be honest with ourselves about the steroid era. It was just that, an era.  Just like the dead ball era, the expansion era, or the pre integration era.  The baseball writers need to learn some of the history of baseball before they start applying their misguided criteria to the whole thing.