......sponsored by Mastercard (I can't do the little r in a circle thingy).

It's listed here. As Bill W. pointed out in the WS thread, it's heavily tilted towards the recent past, which is understandable I guess in polls of these type.

I'm sorry, but I was never all that impressed with Ripken's record to begin with but I'm even less impressed that people rate that above some truly great feats such as The Yankee Clipper's 56-game hitting streak or Teddy Ballgame hitting .400, both feats that seem pretty likely not to be bettered for quite a while.

Agreed with the comments about events of the recent past being favored--if things aren't on film, they just don't matter. After all, there were no Babe Ruth moments. One point that bothers me is that some of these "memorable moments" aren't moments at all. Gibson's HR was a moment, but the 56-game streak was a season. The former was a thrilling, one-shot event while the latter was a slow-building, day-by-day record. They can't be compared, sort of like the proverbial apples & oranges.

~Adam

[ October 24, 2002: Message edited by: Adam ]

A couple great takes on that appalling pageant:

\"My MasterCard Memorable Moment is when baseball sold its history for a couple million dollars.\" (Derek Zumsteg, Baseball Prospectus)


Pete Rose's sins are too great to forgive... and what's with Ray Liotta? (Gary Huckabay, BP)


Re moments vs seasons, Adam: exactly. And since MasterCard paid to belittle our individual memories, no one cares. (certainly not Beelzebud)

[ October 24, 2002: Message edited by: Bill W ]

Bill W,

I agree with your comments. I thought, that of the individuals out there (Ripken, Aaron, McGuire, and Rose), the most memorable moment was Hank Aaron's homerun to break Babe Ruth's record. The ironic thing about the whole presentation, was that Rose received the loudest and longest standing ovation and reception from the fans.

From the Baseball Prospectus: [quote]Voting doesn't determine anyone's most memorable moment. It solves nothing, but the very process is just another part of the strip-mining of baseball, where ads return to outfield walls, many teams sell their medical care (and the health of their players) as an endorsement deal for local providers, and there's nothing sacred, or too important, that it can't be bought and paid for. Every moment is already branded. The home runs are the Random Airline Trip of the Day, a defensive play becomes a LeechChemicalCo Turf Defender Lawn Fertilizer Play. If thinking about baseball's rich and storied past is a commercial act, done at the behest of an advertising campaign, why not have ads on uniforms? Why not put company logos on the outfield grass?

---

Exactly. I remember watching a tape of the famous Browns/Broncos game in 1984 (?) (the one where Ernest Byner had the fumble caused by the 5 yard line) and it was stunning to look at NBC's coverage. No relentless promos for their shows, no first down sponsored by a company, no 43 cut-aways to replays etc. We're way past that and that's really sad.

Mr. Huckaby brings up a great point about the Rose situation. If he knew that the writers were going to effectively ban him from the Hall, he probably wouldn't have signed the agreement. It probably wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't, he's totally guilty of gambling on games, so it was just delaying the inevitable. Hah! They're showing one of those MC commercials now.

You know, this is the same issue as using rock songs in commericals. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival is furious that his bitter anti-war song Fortunate Son, a truly great song that rails against the rich getting draft exemptions while the poor go to die in Vietnam, is being used to sell jeans. And the scumbag guy at the ad agency glossed over the true meaning of the lyrics and said it's a great American song. The sad thing is that Fogerty sold all the rights to his songs in the 70's and he has no control over how they are used (like The Beatles don't have control over their rights; they were sold to Wacko Jacko) but fans are going to think he sold out.

Ain't capitalism grand?