This rule seems to be one created solely for this occasion, as a means of excluding two phenomenal, statistically-inclined writers—who have, incidentally, been thorns in the side of the BBWAA for years.
This exclusion is not new to the world of sports journalism, as is perhaps best seen in a quick stroll through the archives of the brilliant blog Fire Joe Morgan. Mainstream journalists have long appropriated the groundbreaking work of more statistically-minded analysts like Neyer, Law, and Bill James.
What's most frustrating about these men (and women) is that they attack the aforementioned writers not on the basis of reasoned logic, but rather out of a fear of change. They're sports fundamentalists who choose to ignore the validity of revolutionary statistical work.
Rather than explain why they disagree, they opt instead to marginalize the opposition as "nerds." Stat heads are portrayed as part of some sinister agenda to suck the soul of out of baseball with their computers and calculators.
In a recent column, Peter Gammons, one of the 16 newly elected writers, mentioned attributes that "the sabermetricians, in their basements, could never understand."
This sort of useless, ignorant vitriol is unbecoming of men and women who call themselves journalists.
This isn't integrity. This is, in fact, an insult to everything that journalism is purported to stand for, to support, and to uphold.
For me, this latest flap is the final straw. What little respect I once held for the decisions of the BBWAA is gone.
The writers' choices for MVP, ROY, Cy Young, and the Hall of Fame are conversation starters, but that's it. They carry no more weight than the opinions of any other group of people.
To Rob Neyer, Keith Law, and the many other writers and bloggers with more insight and integrity than some of the recently elected scribes, I paraphrase Groucho Marx:
You should never join any club like BBWAA, especially if they consider you for membership.
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