Comments on: The End Days of Bill Conlin’s Online Crap Storm: Interview With Bill Baer

By: Don

Don — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:51:23 +0000

Did Bill Conlin actually get in trouble over this?

By: Freddy

Freddy — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:10:49 +0000

Baer is a genius and i agree with Big T

By: mike

mike — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:25:18 +0000

Oh, please. Bill Conlin has made a career of quoting people out of context. This isn’t some guy on the street that shouldn’t realize that anything sent an e-mail is the same as anything said in front of a tape recorder. Conlin knew exactly what he was doing. He’s so arrogant and happy with himself that he simply does not care about the ramifications of his words.

By: El V

El V — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:59:11 +0000

Good job Mr. Baer…another Goliath vs David story. IMO it is always amazing how the dinosaur old media fat-cats are so defensive! Obviously they know they have so much to atone for…the fools and liars prevalent in the MSM should be exposed.
Typically these roaches will scatter when the lights come on!

By: Lou Poulas

Lou Poulas — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:04:18 +0000

I am no Conlin fan, I am not a regular reader of his, but from what I have seen in print and on ESPN I think I would disagree with him upwards of 80% of the time.

But Baer baited him. Plain and simple. Conlin is an idiot, stuck in the 1970’s, and wasn’t smart enough to know that blogs are published. I feel no remorse, but I do think Baer knew all along the e-mail chain would be published and intended to lead Conlin astray. Again, Conlin is a joke, but I am glad I don’t know Baer personally.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:47:52 +0000

There’s one aspect missing in all this: Respect. Granted, we are only hearing one side in this debate, but trusting Baer’s account of the exchange to be accurate, I believe that Baer was respectfully trying to approach Conlin as a peer (or at least as an equal) and used such a tone in his e-mails. Conlin, on the other hand, was downright nasty in his replies.

Whether Conlin believed his comments were being published or not, is this really appropriate behavior? Should anyone who disagrees with Conlin be subjected to such ire and disrespect? It seems Conlin would be well served to treat others as he would like to be treated.

By: Cory P

Cory P — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:15:13 +0000

I am sympathetic to Ed Hardiman’s point regarding the reprinting of someone else’s emails without notification. Perhaps Mr Baer would have been better served by notifying Mr Conlin of his intentions in the beginning. Yet, I’m not convinced that this mistake on Mr Baer’s part comes anywhere near Mr Conlin’s gaffe of speaking so blithely about Hitler and his deplorable actions.

Mr Baer did not suggest that posting the emails had anything to do with furthering his arguments regarding Wright v. Reyes. His arguments on that front stood on their own. It seemed clear to me that the posting had more to do with the idea that Mr Conlin simply refused to consider an alternative viewpoint simply because the method used to obtain that viewpoint was not his own method. In other words, “don’t confuse me with the facts, I know what I know.” And Mr Baer’s posting of the emails amounted to, “look, boys and girls, an ostrich with his head in the sand. And as a bonus feature, watch the ostrich say something stupid.”

By: Rick O

Rick O — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:20:28 +0000

I just read the email exchange between Baer & Conlin. That Conlin fella’s quite a piece of work.

By: Rick O

Rick O — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:05:09 +0000

Well, this is certainly interesting. Mr. Baer’s blog and reputation has been sufficiently planted in the “must read”, or at least “must check it out” category, regardless of whether you agree with him or not or take the time to leave a comment. He’s usually as thorough as anyone around with regards to his viewpoints of the game of baseball. I haven’t read the email exchange between the two, but I’m pretty sure I have a handle on the situation. It’s probably little more than new school vs. old school, which in many cases results in both parties quite sure that they are right and steadfast in their opinions. Without having read the exchanges, I really can’t comment more than that.

By: Ed Hardiman

Ed Hardiman — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:09:17 +0000

I’m one of the people who disagree with Bill Baer, printing somebody’s emails is dry gulching them.

On the other hand I can tell you Bill Baer has always been a worthy and gracious adversary in any argument.

The question unasked is how did posting the emails advance his argument David Wright deserved the MVP more than Rollins?

Finally, while using hitler in an argument is deplorably stupid reprinting it for no better purpose than tittilation doesn’t seem far enough away from the blast zone to keep the lethal radiation of stupidity from killing you also…