Today the results of Baseball’s Hall of Fame voting will be announced, and if there is any justice in the world, this man will be voted in.

Update: Larkin was not voted in, but he received enough votes that it looks likely that he will be inducted within a few years.

sometimes evil does triumph.

Archbishop Dolan of New York has a new blog and it does not just consist of stuffy “churchy” posts, as can be seen in his latest entry:

It’s been hard for this bishop to be against angels, but fortunately that crisis of conscience has passed with the Yankees 5-2 victory last night over the Los Angeles Angels, giving them their 40th American League pennant and sending the Bronx Bombers back to the World Series.

Rooting for the Yankees has been a very natural thing for me, as I have been a Yankee fan since 1961 when, as an 11 year old in Saint Louis, I closely followed the Maris/Mantle home run race. (Of course, being a Cardinal’s fan is a part of my D.N.A.)

With the Angels out of the way, and my beloved Redbirds having been sent home in the first round, there will be no dilemmas when it comes to cheering unreservedly for the Yankees in the Fall Classic.

However, I will feel bad for my friend and mentor, Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, when the Yankees beat his Phillies.

And for Mets fans, please remember that October 28, the first day of the World Series, is also the Feast of Saint Jude, the Patron Saint of Impossible Cases.

I have been a fan of Archbishop Dolan for a while now and his love of the Cardinals is a noble one I can respect. But his support of the Yankees does give me pause. How can the good Archbishop so publicly support the Evil Empire? How can he abandon the National League so easily? Pray for Archbishop Dolan that he might eventually see the light and abandon his support of the $200 million team.

(Note: my comments should not be construed to mean that I support the Phillies. I consider them to be, in the words of Ad Orientem, the Evil Empire’s National League cousin).

What injustice, you say? The fact that all four MLB teams left in the playoffs have payrolls of at least $100 million. Looks like you just buy a World Series title these days.

(Yes, I am from small-market Cincinnati and haven’t seen my beloved Reds in the playoffs since 1995, so excuse me if I’m a bit cranky. And the fact that I now live in a large-market [Washington, DC] which has a small-market payroll doesn’t help either.)

Last night my wife and I went to see our beloved Cincinnati Reds play the Washington Nationals:

We were afraid the game would be rained out, but we were able to watch the first seven innings with no problem.

So, what does this have to do with Catholicism? Nothing really – although Inside Catholic did recently rerun an article on the “Virtues of Baseball.”

P.S. It took extra innings, but the Reds won, fortunately.