Ken Gurnick, eh???

[clvclv]

3 questions for the guy who left Maddux off his ballot with the simple UNAVOIDABLE one word answers...

1.) Did you vote for Orel Hershiser? Yes.

2.) Did Orel Hershiser compete against Canseco, McGwire, Bonds, and Sosa? Yes.

3.) Should you give up your right to cast a ballot immediately??? ABSOLUTELY.

[Dalyn]

[bravesnumberone]

One of the things I'm most disgusted with in sports are these pompous asses that vote for the baseball HOF. Loved Chipper's quote in DOB's story.

“Some dumbass will probably leave him off the ballot because no one else has been a unanimous pick.”

[jpx7]

What a turd.

[Braves1976]

I responded to Bowman on twitter: @mlbbowman Apparently it was @kengurnick playing the "dumbass" (hat tip to Chipper) leaving Maddux off his ballot...

Former Braves pitching coach Mazzone: “You’ve got to be an idiot not to have (Maddux) as a unanimous pick."

[Hawk]

I predict 2014 will be a rough year for Mr. Gurnick. Famewhores get slutshamed.

[tululush]

This is his reasoning, "As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them."

Ummm seriously? Wouldn't the fact that a lot of players were taking them make what Maddux did look that much more impressive? Unless he thinks Maddux was juicing. In which case, then he's an even bigger idiot. Not to mention he voted for Morris, who btw pitched during the steroid era. Just sayin'.

link

[jpx7]

This is his reasoning, "As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them."

Moreover: as noted here, Morris' "career overlapped with nine of Greg Maddux's seasons, including three of his four Cy Young seasons."

You can't really state it much better than that same article's author: "So that either means that Gurnick thinks Maddux actually used PEDs while Morris did not or he has zero grasp on the concept of eras or what 'the period of PED use' actually was. He's making a distinction between Morris and Maddux (and Glavine and every other player on the ballot) that is not grounded in any sort of sense at all."

[tululush]

I think the guy is just an arrogant pos. He wanted to 'be that guy' and when approached was grasping at straws. Chalk it up to being a douchebag.

Moreover: as noted here, Morris' "career overlapped with nine of Greg Maddux's seasons, including three of his four Cy Young seasons."

You can't really state it much better than that same article's author: "So that either means that Gurnick thinks Maddux actually used PEDs while Morris did not or he has zero grasp on the concept of eras or what 'the period of PED use' actually was. He's making a distinction between Morris and Maddux (and Glavine and every other player on the ballot) that is not grounded in any sort of sense at all."

[Braves1976]

Moreover: as noted here, Morris' "career overlapped with nine of Greg Maddux's seasons, including three of his four Cy Young seasons."

You can't really state it much better than that same article's author: "So that either means that Gurnick thinks Maddux actually used PEDs while Morris did not or he has zero grasp on the concept of eras or what 'the period of PED use' actually was. He's making a distinction between Morris and Maddux (and Glavine and every other player on the ballot) that is not grounded in any sort of sense at all."

Exactly. Now he's saying he will never vote again, partly because wants Rivera to have a shot 100%. So I guess he's satisfied with costing Maddux 100%, but Rivera and Morris are special to him.

[Hawk]

@JimBowdenESPNxm: Ken Gurnick told us one of the reasons he will never vote again is that he would NOT have voted for Mariano Rivera either b/c of era XM 89
[ http://twitter.com/JimBowdenESPNxm/s...43556957495296 ]

[Braves1976]

@JimBowdenESPNxm: Ken Gurnick told us one of the reasons he will never vote again is that he would NOT have voted for Mariano Rivera either b/c of era XM 89
[ http://twitter.com/JimBowdenESPNxm/s...43556957495296 ]

Yea, apparently it was enough to cost Maddux 100% and tie him to PED's with a stupid excuse. Enough said.

[Hawk]

Yea, apparently it was enough to cost Maddux 100% and tie him to PED's with a stupid excuse. Enough said.

Is there any precedent for a vote being thrown out?

You have to wonder, with Deadspin apparently having bought a vote -- and now this, which is just beyond words.

[Braves1976]

Is there any precedent for vote being thrown out?

You have to wonder, with Deadspin apparently having bought a vote -- and now this, which is just beyond words.

Nah, at least not that I am aware of. Thankfully Maddux is still a lock for the HOF, but if anyone deserved 100% it's him. Glavine has a great shot according to votes already in too.

[AUTiger7222]

Braves Paul ‏@Braves_Paul 1m

With 155 (~27%) ballots counted: 99.4% Maddux 96.1% Glavine 92.3% Thomas 78.7% Biggio ----- 69.0% Piazza

[tululush]

Hold up a second. So this guy publicly admits he'll never vote for someone who played during the ped era, then votes for Morris, doesn't vote for Maddux, and then says he's not voting again bc he doesn't want to not vote for someone associated with peds? So he's basically saying h'e pushing an agenda that is convenient to him unless it involves a favorite player of his. In which case he'll vote for him (Morris) or abstain from voting when Mariano is on the ballot. Am I missing something? Would really love for EVERYONE to just call him out. ESPN, Fox Sports, MLB Network, MLB.com just everyone call his elitist ass out.

@JimBowdenESPNxm: Ken Gurnick told us one of the reasons he will never vote again is that he would NOT have voted for Mariano Rivera either b/c of era XM 89
[ http://twitter.com/JimBowdenESPNxm/s...43556957495296 ]

[MadduxFanII]

If you squint really, really hard you can see a coherent argument along the lines of what Gurnick is saying. It's an extreme argument, but there's a logical coherence to the argument that, "I find steroids morally abhorrent, I think the Player's Association of the era did everything they could to stymie efforts to stop their spread and every MLB player was in that union, so, barring some information regarding an individual player's backchannel efforts to fight steroids, I'm not going to vote for any union members, as they bear a measure of responsibility for the steroid era."

Like I said, I think that's a crummy argument, but it's at least consistent. It's better, for example, than Rosenthal's approach, which was to use that argument for a few years, than abandon it as soon as uncontroversial guys like Maddux, Glavine and Thomas got on the ballot.

Unless, of course, you vote for a player from the steroid era...

[Gary82]

Is this guy trying to commit career suicide? Is he depressed?

[jpx7]

Unless, of course, you vote for a player from the steroid era...

That's the rub. If he wanted a leg to stand on, he shouldn't have cast a vote for Morris, either.

[clvclv]

If you squint really, really hard you can see a coherent argument along the lines of what Gurnick is saying. It's an extreme argument, but there's a logical coherence to the argument that, "I find steroids morally abhorrent, I think the Player's Association of the era did everything they could to stymie efforts to stop their spread and every MLB player was in that union, so, barring some information regarding an individual player's backchannel efforts to fight steroids, I'm not going to vote for any union members, as they bear a measure of responsibility for the steroid era."

Like I said, I think that's a crummy argument, but it's at least consistent. It's better, for example, than Rosenthal's approach, which was to use that argument for a few years, than abandon it as soon as uncontroversial guys like Maddux, Glavine and Thomas got on the ballot.

Unless, of course, you vote for a player from the steroid era...

No you can't. He voted for Jack Morris who won 24 games in 1992, the height of the PED era. He also voted for Orel Hershiser who competed against the PED poster children (Bonds, Canseco, McGwire, Sosa, etc.).