Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 2-4-22

Editorial
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months: $87.00-Per Year.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
By Leaving Out Barry Bonds, The Baseball Hall Of Fame Finally Signs Its Own Death Certificate
Well they did it. Last week, The Baseball Writers’ Association Of America, content to dig its heels into abandoned ground, left all- time home run leader Barry Bonds out of the Hall of Fame for his 10th and final year of eligibility. The San Francisco Giants legend now joins Roger Clemens (seven Cy Young awards, third all-time in strikeouts) as two undisputed Hall of Famers who won’t be for- mally enshrined in the Hall of Fame. All so that the vot- ers in Cooperstown can tell the world that rubbing Steroid(cream) on your el- bows is Bad. Which was never confirmed.
This is a delegitimizing event for the Hall. An end. A death. No serious baseball fan will ever have a reason to visit Cooperstown anymore now that the BBWAA has es- sentially voided out an en- tire generation of ballplayers. Not only have Bonds and Clemens been blackballed — the balls of these men have endured so very much — but a similar fate visited Mark McG- wire (583 career home runs) and it WILL visit Sammy Sosa (609 career home runs), Manny Ramirez (12-time All-Star), Curt Schilling (11-2 post- season record and three World Series titles) and Alex Rodriguez. You don’t have to be a baseball fanatic, and we certainly don’t qual- ify as one, to see the voting patterns of the past decade and come to obvious conclu- sions. Since Bonds retired, the BBWAA has telegraphed its moral rectitude by in- ducting only the boringest players and releasing public ballots (BBWAA voters may elect to disclose their own ballots if they wish) that were all disgraceful, but each in their own special way.
So we knew all this was coming, but that doesn’t make it any less shocking. Barry Bonds was not only the best baseball player the world ever seen, but also the most IMPORTANT one. He
BARRY BONDS
holds most of the records. Dan Shaughnessy and a bunch of other white sportswriters decided they wouldn’t vote for Bonds, they stuck to it. In the process, they’ve left Cooper- stown reeling, uninteresting and illegitimate. This is es- pecially galling when you consider that Major League Baseball is stuck in a lockout at this very moment, is thirsty for stars to lure in ca- sual fans and is fresh off an entirely DIFFERENT cheat- ing scandal that it only had passing interest in stifling. Hence, old baseball is all we have right now, and even that’s being taken away with not having Black players in
the league.
Barry Bonds is recog-
nized as the greatest hitter of all time, and the true home run king; while others have chosen to ignore his ca- reer, and refuse to recognize the fact that he hit 762 home runs. While there don't seem to be many people that are in between on the matter, there's at least one thing that we can all agree on: Barry Bonds was the most feared hitter that baseball has ever seen.
In his career, Bonds was walked 2,558 times, which is better than second place (Rickey Henderson) by 368 walks. He was inten-
tionally walked 688 times, which bests second place (Albert Pujols) by 392 free passes. Bonds was treated like no other hitter that has ever walked to the plate, and on May 28th, 1998, Buck Showalter intentionally walked the slugger with the bases loaded.
Those who watched him play will always remember his presence at the plate, and understand that the chances of ever seeing someone like Bonds again are incredibly unlikely. His most famous accomplishments are un- doubtedly the all-time home run record, as well as the single-season home run record; however, he has an- other that's criminally un- derreported and just as astonishing.
In 2004, three years after Bonds hit 73 home runs, he was walked 232 times, with 120 coming intentionally (both of which are single- season records). However, that's not what the focus of this article is; it's the fact that in 2004, he reached base 376 times, but only had 373 official at-bats. In the history of Major League Baseball, he's the only player to ever do so, and no one else has even come close.
This will be considered ONE of the most racist acts in American history.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Read The NAACP Legislative Report Card
hen sitting Republican Senators and Congres- sional Representatives like Senator Kevin Mc- Carthy tried to squash the investigation of the
January 6, 2020, attack on the Capitol, and refused to appear before the investigation committee without a word from their voters, we were reminded to share the existence of the NAACP Legislative Report Card.
The Report Card is a “federal elected officials’ ac- countability tool” that documents the voting patterns of our Congressional Representatives and Senators. The report is issued each year on how each member of Con- gress votes on bills that impact social justice, civil rights, human rights, religious rights, women’s rights, and other issues important to people of color.
Without the NAACP Report Card, it would require hours of research to find out how our elected officials voted on these issues. Each member receives a grade of A through F for his/her voting records. Both Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott received grades of F. Of our 27 elected Congressional Representatives, 16 are Repub- lican and 11 are Democrats.
Among the bills that were voted against are the fol- lowing: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, The Equal- ity Act, Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act 2019, Strength In Diversity Act 2019, John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 2019 and 2021, Improving Cor- porate Governance Through Diversity 2019, Condemn- ing President Trump’s Racist Comments Directed At Members of Congress Equality Act, Protecting Our Democracy Act, Steve Bannon in Contempt for Failing to Comply with A Subpoena Issued by the Select Com- mittee to Investigate the January 6, attack on the Capi- tol, Women’s Health Protection Act 2021, Establishing the January 6 Committee, LGBTQ Business Credit En- forcement Act, and the Violence Against Women Reau- thorization Act.
Consequently, people of color, women, religious and LGBTQ persons need to know that they vote for officials who will not protect their rights. These groups should google candidates’ records before reelecting them to Congress again. Most certainly, the NAACP Report Card is an excellent resource.
W
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022