If I were to become a superhero, I think I would be a superhero that fights baseball ignorance. My life wouldn’t change other than I would own a superhero costume. I would also try and bang that cheerleader chick from Heroes.

I would be the lamest superhero ever.

If I was a superhero, I my arch enemy would be Pete Alfano. He would be known as the Driveler. In my ongoing battle against baseball ignorance I sent an email to the Driveler. If you are a new reader to this site, Pete has made numerous erroneous claims starting with the first Driveler article I happened across in which Pete falsely stated the Mets are over the luxury tax threshold. Why he can’t do even the slightest bit of research is beyond me.

Last week Pete claimed “Some baseball players wear batting helmets in the field as protection from objects being tossed from the stands.” As my duty to you, the baseball fan, I gave Pete his due public mockery:

What? Do you watch any baseball? Who wears a batting helmet in the field? First and third base coaches have to wear helmets now so they don’t get hit in the head with foul balls. John Olerud wore a batting helmet in the field but he retired in 2005, and again, to protect against baseballs. Pete would try and have us believe that fans throwing things at players is so rampant that “some players” are wearing them in the field. Either Pete is:
A. Lazy and assumes that his readers are too ignorant to know better.
B. A compulsive liar
C. Ignorant about Major League Baseball
D. A crazy man

If Pete wanted to write this story he should have cited the firstbase umpire or the firstbase coach attacked by fans on separate occasions in Chicago or the obsessed Stefi Graf fan who attacked Monica Seles. Those fans were not representative of the average fan, but a better argument than just making something up. If you were going to write a story about unruly fans you shouldn’t have started it off writing about two lesbians kissing.

I felt that this was not a sufficient response to manufacturing blatantly false claims to support a bad argument. As a public service, I sent the following email to Pete Alfano of the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

[Note: Pete’s/The Driveler’s emails are in bold, my emails are in italics.]

Could I please see your list of players when you claimed that “Some baseball players wear batting helmets in the field as protection from objects being tossed from the stands.” I watch a lot of baseball and I haven’t seen one guy wear one. Yet I know it must be true that players are wearing batting helmets in the field. In fact, I know it is true because it was in the newspaper.

Do you even watch baseball?

I did not get a response for several days, until this morning:

Watched baseball for 40 years, the first game I ever covered Bob Moose no-hit the Mets in 1969 and you obviously don’t follow the sport very much. By the way, John Olerud comes to mind. He wore one playing first for the Mets, in fact. And players from time to time have worn them on the field when crowds have gotten a little too hostile.

Pete Alfano

Of course, this was not where it ended, I could not, as the guardian of Baseball truth let this pass. I sent the following:

Olerud retired in 2005. Olerud wore the helmet because of a medical condition, not to protect himself from fans throwing things at him from the stands. John Olerud used to ride the subway to Shea so I really don’t think he was afraid of being attacked by any fans so that claim goes out the window. Remember you wrote: “Some baseball players wear batting helmets in the field as protection from objects being tossed from the stands.” So you are not the person in position to claim I don’t follow baseball very much. I watch every Mets game and other teams but don’t obviously watch every single game. If there is a player on the Royals, a team I don’t watch often for example, please name them. However, I am not the guy who made the claim.

PS you also claimed the Mets were over the luxury tax threshold, which they are not.

And I received the following response:

Dan
I am from New York, attended the first Mets game at Shea (cut high school class) and went to the Polo Grounds on occasion during the 1962 and 63 seasons. I am an old Brooklyn Dodger fan who adopted the Mets and grew up not much caring for the Yankees. Worked in New York for many years with Newsday and New York Times. Was at UPI when I was assigned to cover the Mets on a saturday afternoon when Moose no-hit them. the mets had lost a twi0-night doubleheader the night before, but undeterred that year, they swept the Pirates in another doubleheader on Sunday.

Pete

So there you have it, folks. I think he is asking for mercy by claiming a Mets allegiance. I have not sent another email. But don’t breathe easy yet. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of…The Driveler!

Tune in next Monday, Same lame site, Same lame topic!