Rick Hummel, HOF, St. Louis Post-Dispatch with Charley Steiner on XM

Discussing the tragic death of Champion Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock, Hummel relates his professional interaction with him. Noting there's a pretty wide cavern between Cardinals players and the local press (ie the players aren't thrilled with the ink-stained types), Hummel says Josh Hancock was an exception, that he was very open with writers like himself. Says Josh figured these writer guys "have a job to do" so he went out of his way to be cooperative with them. First, I understand Rick is a HOF writer, but this characterization of baseball writers makes me puke.

• Mr. Hummel, first, no one said you had to take the job.

• 2. No one in the world is obligated to make someone else's job easy.

• 3. Your tone was sickening--you sounded as if you & your writer pals pity yourselves, are deserving of the pity of others, or live under a unique black cloud.

• 4. To even try to make what you do acceptable is unacceptable. It should be outlawed.

• 5. With your influence, Mr. Hummel, your first priority should be to prohibit all baseball writers from entering dressing rooms or locker rooms of anyone they cover. These are and should be private areas. Even Dibs and Kevin Kennedy have said several times they won't go into players' locker rooms as they consider them private space for the players.

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