Bob Lobel: Fixing the Baseball Hall of Fame and Honoring Stuart Scott

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

There is a section of the instructions to the Baseball Writers of America that was added a few years after the writers established the Hall and the honor it carries. 

It’s the rule five clause that specifically deals with character issues. That’s why there is no Pete Rose, nor will there be a Clemens, Bonds, Palmeiro, or A-Rod.  

I think they should make the process better by adding a sixth rule. Simply, it should say, “ignore rule five.” 

Then the best players of all time will get into the place designed to honor the best players of all time.  

Bob Lobel: Does Recent Succes Make the 2014 Red Sox Any More Bearable?

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Let’s try this little experiment. 

Let’s go back to the summer of 2003 and follow the Grady Little Red Sox to the logical conclusion that all Red Sox teams on the precipice of immortality fail miserably. Miserably, but not unexpectedly.

The sad ending of that year was nothing new, but that didn’t make it any less painful. After all, are trips to the dentist any less painful just because you had a previous painful experience in the chair? No, this was the Red Sox' signature persona. They were defined by their failures. 

Now, staying in that year, when Grady left Pedro in a game too long, ending a season, but making a semi-hero out of Aaron Boone, I ask you in all honesty: If you were told from that moment on to the year 2013 that the Red Sox would win three world championships after the legendary drought of 86 years, would you have believed it?