I (Evander) will answer my subject-line question directly. Dan Le Batard has been stripped of his National Baseball Hall of Fame voting privileges by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, for turning over his vote to Deadspin. The suspension lasts one year.

Why would a voter do this? Le Batard’s somewhat rambling-but-heartfelt explanation, which could be read as part of the link immediately above, involves the hypocrisy that centers on the Cooperstown-voting process and the inordinate power vested in people who cover the game but have no firsthand experience playing it on the major-league level and/or insight into its true-statistical (Sabermetrics) workings.

A look at the BWAA results for 2014, and probably any given year, would bear out the point.

There is something of the Edward Snowden in this act of mutiny and revelation: minus the larger real-world implications, which make sports such as baseball and cricket a compelling microcosm and reflection of reality.

In other news, as a result of his appeal, Alex Rodriguez has been suspended for the entire 2014 season and potential postseason with the New York Yankees, even though he vows to participate in spring-training exercises. I don’t know if this means, as I imagine it does, a bizarre pitch to play third base in Grapefruit League games.

Rodriguez intends to take his case to federal court. I’d be slightly amazed if such would grant a hearing.