Separating fact from fiction

by Phil Wood

If you repeat an untruth enough times, does it magically become a fact?

Case in point: this morning's Baltimore Sun - and likely numerous other daily newspapers - printed a photograph on page 2 of the sports section with this caption: "Jon Miller, who broadcast Orioles games from 1983 to 1996, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, along with former Expo Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey."

Really? The Hall of Fame's official release is headlined "Dawson, Harvey, Herzog Thrill Cooperstown Crowd at Class of 2010 Hall of Fame Induction," with the sub-headline "Rock and Roll Legend John Fogerty Performs Classic Baseball Anthem 'Centerfield'."

No mention of Jon Miller. Why?

Because he wasn't inducted into the Hall of Fame. He received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. New York Daily News baseball writer Bill Madden received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for exemplary print journalism.

For years a "writer's wing" and "broadcaster's wing" of the Hall of Fame have been referenced by various media outlets, but there are no such "wings" of the Hall of Fame. There's a display outside the entrance to the library at the Hall where you'll find a nice representation of an old-time press box, complete with typewriters and vintage microphones, and a plaque that lists past winners of the Frick and Spink awards.

Look, the folks who run the Hall of Fame know who's in the Hall and who's not. The Hall of Immortals, where the actual Hall of Fame members' plaques are mounted, is bereft of any mention of broadcasters or writers. (You also won't find plaques dedicated to the women who played in the All-American Girl's Professional Baseball League that's celebrated in the motion picture "A League of Their Own," despite the reference in the film to those women being "inducted" into the Hall of Fame. (That was just artistic license.)

There's no question that several past winners of the Frick and Spink Awards have proclaimed themselves members of the Hall of Fame; that doesn't make it so, regardless of how much they - and their fans - believe it to be.

If you've never been to the Hall of Fame, you owe it to yourself to go. Baseball really wasn't invented there - we know that for certain now - but it would've been the perfect place to do it. But don't walk in circles wondering why Jon Miller's plaque isn't mounted along with the Class of 2010. He's a great, timeless broadcaster who won a prestigious award, the same award that's been won in years past by Bob Wolff, Chuck Thompson and Arch McDonald, all notable area baseball announcers.

But none were "inducted." That's a whole 'nother ballgame.