One would think the BBWAA would be feeling a bit embarrassed right now after having bestowed its highest honor on Bill Conlin a year before he was accused of child molestation and opted to resign from the Philadelphia Daily News.
But then, this is the BBWAA we’re talking about. Here’s the official release on its website from secretary/treasurer Jack O’Connell:
“Bill Conlin has been a member in good standing of the BBWAA since 1966. The allegations have no bearing on his winning the 2011 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which was in recognition of his notable career as a baseball writer.”
Sure, why the hell not? The organization had the poor taste to choose the buffoon in the first place. And, yes, Bill Conlin, regardless of these disgusting allegations against him, is a known buffoon. He may be a truly horrible person as well, but apparently the BBWAA -- America’s moral authority on steroids -- doesn’t have a problem with truly horrible people.
Maybe I’m going too far. I’m guessing there are a bunch of BBWAA members out there not okay with O’Connell’s statement. There’s no way of telling who was consulted or whether this was all the doing of one man. But the proper response would have been a good old fashioned “no comment” until the organization had its ducks in a row.
