Secondly, Josh Hamilton is a mental midget, why? Because he has the disease of addiction? That logic would automatically disqualify Billy Martin, Bobby Cox and a slew other great managers . . . not to mention half the players in any given year that you never hear about.

Was Hendo Kendo a mensa candidate? No. Was that anecdote you cited true? NO.

The number of jocks going from the mansion to the poorhouse is actually way smaller than you think. For every Antoine Walker and Lenny Dykstra there are a hundred players who invested and saved wisely.

Hype over substance. Fantasy over reality. You choose to enjoy the fantastical stories and amplify them way beyond the truth. I choose to do the opposite by simply seeking and recognizing the truth.

The fact is, I never made the statement that in order to be a “play-by -play announcer, coach, umpire, sports journalist and now, hits vs. errors you need to have been a former player. You assumed that’s what I implied and responded as such.

I did however suggest, if you knew how to read between the lines and not, say, apply your fiction to my words, that having played a sport above the little league (instructional) level can only give experience and insight to an official scorer that someone who doesn’t have the same experience doesn’t have as a point of reference. Or, (BIGGER PROBLEM) have the good sense to separate their fandom (love or hate of a player or influenced by players reputation) from how they choose to score a play.

But here’s a thought for you . . . until you’ve have had to successfully defend your scoring choices to a professional baseball player, coach, manager, player development director, league president – and worst of all – the visiting team broadcaster you really have no concept of whats involved.

If you have, hats off to you. All I can say is I never once had a call overturned. I was challenged several times (because minor leaguers seem to think all Errors are subjective), but I always knew how to explain it within the context of the rules and gameplay.

The ‘regular’ scorekeeper we had? A genuinely good guy, huge baseball fan and reliable . . . but scoring challenges seemed to be a weekly thing with him. That said, other regular official scorer we had, an ex-jock was great . . . that is, until he got caught with child porn (OK, actually the Police got rid of him for us).

Finally, I have no problem whatsoever with play-by-play announcers, umpires and journalists having never played beyond Little Leagues. I even know of a high school coach who never played basketball at any level, but he loved the game, learned the game and not only became one of the best coaches in the State, but won State Championships.

But that, like the examples you cited in your post, are the few and far between exceptions.