Killer B’s Podcast 5: The Moral and Ethical Gray Area of Baseball Hall of Fame Voting

Tommy Barbee and Keelin Billue discuss Hank Aaron’s legacy of Black excellence and struggle, baseball’s Hall of Fame voting, and the lack of a DH for the White Sox

Episode 5 of the Killer B’s podcast takes a on a different tone than past Killer B’s podcasts: What is the place of character in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

The recent death of baseball legend Hank Aaron put a spotlight on how sports fans and society talk about our sports heroes who are also people of color. Tommy and Keelin build a conversation around this idea to discuss:

• Avoiding Erasure: How do we talk about our heroes while also openly acknowledging their noble and ignoble struggles?
• Baseball Hall of Fame Voting: It would not be 2020 into 2021 without a tense Baseball Hall of Fame vote. Do we reconcile HoF nominees’ stats with their character? Where, when, and whose responsibility is it to draw a moral and ethical line (if at all)? Can we expect a reconciliation when the voters are mainly white men dealing with intersectional issues?

Although we spend most of our time talking about some somber issues on this episode, we also take some time to reflect on what’s up next for the Chicago White Sox including:

• The Rumor Mill from Strangely Named Twitter and Reddit Accounts: Off the heels of a Reddit-based rumor about a possible Corbin Burnes deal, Tommy recounts the tale of Reddit users WettButt23 and KatyPerrysBootyhole breaking the Eloy trade news.
• So, Where’s our DH?: Should we just give up on hoping for one?
• Missing SoxFest: Like many other big events, SoxFest was sadly cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Why did the White Sox not make an easy few bucks with a digital SoxFest? THERE IS STILL TIME.
• Fans in the Stands: When can we expect to get back to Guaranteed Rate Field?

Listen on the Megaphone player above, or check out this and the entire family of SSS podcasts on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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