Just days removed from yet another round of curious ballots, Hall of Fame voters across the country reacted to Alex Rodriguez’s one-year suspension with a mix of glee and sadness.
“This is awesome!” exclaimed a baseball writer from New York. “I cannot freaking wait until I get the chance to make a statement and not vote for A-Rod. Sure, it will be muddled by all the other statements I’m making about players and the steroid era in general, but whatever. I’m just glad the arbitrator didn’t ban A-Rod for life, thereby preventing me and my colleagues from abstaining to vote for him.”
The voters, who recently snubbed Craig Biggio, failed to make Greg Maddux a unanimous choice and even cast ballots for Jacque Jones and Armando Benitez, weren’t all happy about the suspension.
“I feel like the arbitrator is stealing our thunder, frankly,” said one voter. “I don’t file inane beat reports for the Devil Rays all season long just to be upstaged by an outside consultant. If anyone is going to shine a spotlight on baseball’s transgressions, it should be me.”
Baseball fans, meanwhile, aren’t sure who to root for at this point.
“My hatred for A-Rod is matched by my anger with the voters,” said Houston native Mark Benson. “It’s a lose-lose situation, although I guess I’m used to that as an Astros fan.”
