Giving away a HOF vote

There’s an interesting story going on over at Deadspin and ESPN.com right now (two of my favorite sites, btw.)

It involves this story of the Miami Herald‘s and ESPN’s Dan Le Batard giving away his vote for the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame election.

I saw the post on Deadspin a while back about them wanting to buy a ballot. I wondered where this would lead to… and it turns out they were given a ballot by Le Batard. You can read his reasons in that third link.

I appreciate what Le Batard is trying to do, and I must admit I like a little anarchy myself from time to time. But giving your ballot away — especially to Deadspin, a site that enjoys being the anti-ESPN — wow, that takes some cojones. And I think it’s a huge mistake.

I’m a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, and I’m proud of that. I attend every meeting I can, and I vote in anything they send my way. I’m most proud of having the honor of voting for the GWAA Player of the Year (I voted for Tiger this year, without hesitation — a subject for a later post.) I would never consider giving away my vote. But then, I don’t have a problem with the GWAA or our system…

Now, Le Batard has his reasons, and I won’t go into that — the BWAA HOF and the GWAA Player of the Year are two different animals. But I think he’s taken too big a risk for his credibility and his career just to try to make a point. Write a column, blast the process on your ESPN show (which I enjoy, mostly because Bomani Jones cracks me up)… but don’t just give an honor like that away.

And if you don’t consider it an honor? Fine. Don’t vote.

Deadspin and ESPN are going to come out as winners on this thing, because it’s going to generate a ton of interest and a ton of clicks. Heck, I’m looking forward to see how Deadspin and ESPN cover it.

What’s your take on this one? Is Le Batard a martyr or a moron?

Here’s ESPN‘s no-nonsense coverage of the fiasco.