Corky, of course, is the former Tucson Citizen columnist who rather infamously left Rickey Henderson off of his Hall of Fame ballot (while managing to include the estimable Matt Williams). He then had the bad fortune to publish his ballot early for all the world to mock. The brunt of the resulting criticism was from blogs, of course — with Home Run Derby leading the charge — a fact that at first went unnoticed by the 71-year-old columnist.

But presumably someone told him that he had become an Internet punching bag, and Corky decided to respond. First he offered an apology. Then, in a rather lengthy interview in the Columbia Journalism Review, he said this about the criticism:

“It doesn’t bother me,” Simpson told me, “because, one, I’m too old, and my skin is too thick, and I’m a stubborn old mule from Missouri. I think of the literature on the Internet in the same way that I think of the literature on the walls of public bathrooms. With the exception that the literature on the walls of public bathrooms is a little higher class.”

OK, that was rather tepid; a clunky attempt at humor from the Underwood manual typewriter era. But Corky was only beginning to rev up the old engine:

“The Internet is like a sewer. It’s very necessary, but you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time there.”

Ha, that was a good one — a ripsnorter, as Sam Clemens and the boys down at the Territorial Enterprise used to say. Too bad Corky didn't use that kind of creativity with his Hall of Fame ballot.

Oh, and welcome to the Hall, Matt!

Hardball [Columbia Journalism Review]

Corky, of course, created a category four shitstorm earlier this week when Home Run Derby revealed that he'd left Henderson off of his ballot, which was among a handful published early. The fact that he did vote for fellow first-time nominee Matt Williams didn't help.

Then he expressed surprise when he discovered — via Western Union telegraph, one presumes — that the Internets were ablaze with stories of his major goof. An elaborate mea culpa ensued. From the Oakland Tribune:

"First things first, would I vote for Rickey if I had it to do all over again? Damn right, I would," Simpson said. "I had no idea my ballot would cause such an uproar. Seriously, he was a wonderful player and I simply goofed. I voted for eight deserving men. I could have picked two more — and I wish to heck I had."

But Simpson's claim that he simply forgot that he had 10 votes instead of eight doesn't hold a lot of water. Nick Prevenas, sports editor of the Green Valley Times, a retirement community newspaper in Arizona where Simpson now writes, said that he warned the columnist about leaving Henderson off his ballot when he turned it in. Said Prevenas:

"He (Simpson) told me that he 'wasn't a Rickey guy,' and that he would vote for him next time."

Anyone who followed the 2000 Presidential election knows how much trouble the elderly have with paper ballots. But still, if you're not going to take this seriously, then why not just take a pass? Rickey probably wasn't going to be the first player voted into the Hall unanimously anyway (Willie Mays missed by 23 votes, after all). But that doesn't make this any more digestible.

This never would have happened at the Boca Breeze.

Corky Simpson Would Like His Rickey Henderson Vote Back — I Want His BBWAA Card [Home Run Derby]
Voter: 'I Made A Mistake Not Voting For Rickey Henderson' [Oakland Tribune]