Diplomacy in Action

In the last few years, a few players have taken large sums of money from teams in exchange for promising to wear that team’s cap at his inevitable HOF induction. The HOF responded to this distasteful practice last year by announcing that they would consider a player’s wishes, but would base the decision on “where he made his greatest historical impact,” according to of Jeff Idelson, vice-president of communications for the Hall. Then-HOFer-elect Gary Carter expressed his dissatisfaction, hinting that a Mets cap would lead to more lucrative commercial opportunities than would an Expos cap (“What good does that do me?”).

“The Kid” joined the Padres’ local TV broadcast booth tonight for a few innings. Matt Vasgersian, unaware of the new rule, asked Carter about his HOF cap decision. Carter sounded none too pleased as he informed Vasgersian of the latest development. He then conceded that most of his accomplishments occurred with Montreal (except for the championship in New York, of course), but that the Expos’ questionable future figured into the decision at well. He summed things up, “The Hall of Fame made the decision for me, they made it easy for me, really, because it would be a very difficult decision.” It was a nice show of diplomacy, though he did manage to portray it as the HOF taking over these decisions in the name of objectivity, against the players’ wishes.