Class of 2007

Although it will never be a bastion of style, my home is comfortable, and, I like to think, presentable enough. I mean, I didn't intend for my living room to reflect the typical Panera palette, but you have to admit those are good colors. One doesn't have to look too hard, however, to find items a decorator would never approve-- like the Mark McGwire "collector" glass stashed in a kitchen cabinet. I can't believe I own such a thing, and I'm positive I didn't buy it. Surely it came from my dad, a sometime sucker for stuff that "might be worth something some day." If that eBay listing ends in a sale, I'll have to admit that the thing actually has increased in value, but the fact that I'm using it at all shows how little that means to me.


Given that the BBWAA uses neither butterfly ballots or Diebold machines, we can all rest assured if unsurprised that Mark McGwire won't be crashing Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken's Hall of Fame party. Even if he had been willing to "talk about the past", surely Mr. Steroids is Bad would have remained uninvited; he just doesn't measure up to those unquestioned greats.

Nevertheless, McGwire got enough votes to remain on the ballot, guaranteeing columnists at least one more opportunity to meet a deadline by justifying voting for or against his increasingly irrelevant self. In the meantime, I'll keep using that tacky old glass, and when it inevitably breaks, I just won't care.