08.10.05
A couple good articles about cheating
Two quick links about cheating in baseball:
The Double Standard, by Jayson Stark.
Long tradition of cheating on the hill, by Gary Gillette. (This article is only available to ESPN Insiders, which means “People who pay money.” I just discovered last week that my subscription to ESPN the Magazine gives me a free Insider membership.)
I thought both of these articles were great. Gillette is a numbers guy, and his article is somewhat of a history of pitchers cheating in baseball. Stark’s article asks a very good question: Why do we only get mad about cheating hitters? A quote that sums it up:
We want Rafael Palmeiro to quit, to confess, to be thrown in the slammer by Congress and to be kept out of Cooperstown, N.Y., — even if we have to call in the National Guard.
But Gaylord Perry can sign autographs for 20 bucks a scribble every year on Hall of Fame Induction Day. And Whitey Ford can pose for pictures with our wives and our fathers and our babies outside the Doubleday Cafe.
Good reading.