|
|
Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Monday, November 21, 2011
Ugh. Just ugh. Seattle Mariners baseball star Gregory Halman has been killed in a stabbing in Rotterdam.
Dutch national TV station NOS-TV said the family of Halman, 24, had confirmed his death.
Yes, we can all agree that he’s not a star. That makes this no less horrific. RIP, Greg.
Update: Reuters reports Halman’s brother has been arrested in connection with the stabbing.
|
You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.
Hot Topics
Newsblog: 2023 NBA Regular Season Thread (352 - 10:27pm, Feb 04)Last:  DCANewsblog: Red Sox manager Alex Cora on his time with 2017 Astros, per new book: 'We stole that ... World Serie (9 - 10:25pm, Feb 04)Last: Jose is an Absurd SultanNewsblog: Baseball Hall of Fame tracker 2023 (744 - 9:03pm, Feb 04)Last:  alilisdNewsblog: Orioles to decline 5-year Camden Yards lease extension, seek to secure long-term agreement (75 - 9:01pm, Feb 04)Last: greenback needs a ride, not ammoSox Therapy: The Future Starts Now (Hopefully) (18 - 6:59pm, Feb 04)Last: Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and WonderfulNewsblog: OT Soccer Thread - Hi Ho Hi Ho it’s Back to Club Football We Go (379 - 6:44pm, Feb 04)Last:  Biff, highly-regarded young guyNewsblog: MLB forms economic group as regional TV in peril (2 - 6:14pm, Feb 04)Last: Srul ItzaNewsblog: MLB expansion: Nashville group led by Dave Stewart makes a pitch for Music City [$] (26 - 3:00pm, Feb 04)Last: DFANewsblog: How to Watch the Caribbean Series (5 - 1:18pm, Feb 04)Last: Jose is an Absurd SultanNewsblog: These MLB legends were trailblazers in Japan (5 - 12:53pm, Feb 04)Last: alilisdHall of Merit: Reranking Left Fielders: Results (12 - 12:21am, Feb 04)Last: Chris CobbNewsblog: OT - 2022 NFL thread Part II (330 - 11:03pm, Feb 03)Last:  Joyful Calculus InstructorNewsblog: Sinclair’s Sports Channels Prepare Bankruptcy, Putting Team Payments at Risk (26 - 7:01pm, Feb 03)Last: Greg FranklinHall of Merit: Ranking Right Fielders in the Hall of Merit - Discussion thread (43 - 6:03pm, Feb 03)Last: JaackNewsblog: John Adams, Who Banged His Drum in the Cleveland Bleachers, Has Died (16 - 2:25pm, Feb 03)Last: Barry`s_Lazy_Boy
|
|
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
1. Coot Veal and Cot Deal taste like Old Bay Posted: November 21, 2011 at 12:28 PM (#3998351)RIP.
I might be sick. Thoughts with his family (even his brother, in some ways, it is entirely possible he is mentally disturbed), friends, teammates, the entire Mariners organization, and the Dutch baseball community.
(BTW, I do have to do a "WTF, media" thing here: This isn't even a "turntable" top story on MLB.COM, much less SI or ESPN. I get that he was a marginal player, but still, A PLAYER IN A MAJOR SPORTS LEAGUE WAS MURDERED.)
it's above the fold on MSNBC...
it's above the fold on MSNBC...
It's the top story in the Headlines box on ESPN's MLB page.
So you don't think baseball fans and especially Mariner fans should care about this?
Nope. Well, maybe Mariner fans if they followed his career and knew of him. I know I'm in the minority though, as I caught a lot of heat for not caring "enough" when the Yankee pitcher crashed his plane. Death sucks. Particularly when the person is young. But not because the victim entertained me in the past.
I can't express how wrong you are about this. The dissonance you are advocating between "entertainment" and life is the antithesis of moral reasoning.
[Edit to add] And his name was Cory Lidle not "the Yankee pitcher."
As for whether the sports news should report this or not? Of course they should. Refusing to report personal issues with athletes is what leads to Sandusky-style deviancy. Perhaps if Sandusky's stuff in 1998 or 2002 had been more adequately covered someone who was a prior victim would have come forward to support the accusations and it would have ended before another decade worth of victims were abused. To be honest, sporting news normally tells us what happens in the course of the games. But, since these reporters know the subject best, when something really happens which would otherwise be news they report on it too.
Indeed, it is probable that he was stabbed at home by his brother Jason, a 22-year-old minor leaguer himself.
Looks like Bill James can combine his interests in crime and baseball for his next book.
Literally sickened. We're not just talking about death before one's time here--we're talking about murder and fratricide.
Yep.
If we stop caring about our fellow humans, we're basically heartless mercenaries. If it ever happens that the dominant paradigm is "I don't care about anybody but myself", I'll have to find a way off the planet.
I was a particular fan of Halman's because my rec-league softball team is Dutch-themed. One of us who started it had taken a trip to the Netherlands and really loved it, so we became an orange-uniformed honkbal club. When we found out that the Mariners had a hot prospect from there, we couldn't have been more pleased; some of us road-tripped to Tacoma in uniform to see him play. I'm thinking this season we'll be wearing black armbands.
The world would be so much better if we all sat around wondering why Roberto Clemente never shows up for Old-Timers Games.
-- MWE
But I won't continue. I realize I'm in the minority on this (party of one), and I just wanted to acknowledge that i read all the above posts.
PETE ROSE'S "STONE COLD LOCKS" COLUMN NOT TO BE SEEN TODAY
ROBERTO CLEMENTE MOVES TO FARM IN COUNTRY, WILL ENJOY HAVING PLENTY OF SPACE TO HIT AND RUN
aside from the jokes, this really sucks. I always feel bad when I feel EXTRA bad about someone being murdered because they happened to do something I care about, like play baseball, rather than just being some regular joe.
He also had a lot more defensive value, no? Agreed he wasn't a MLB star, but he did have loads of raw talent, and he was a star in the Netherlands.
I'll out myself here. As stated in 40, I know exactly what you're saying, and I feel the same way.
I don't agree that Halman's death isn't newsworthy. But I do agree that unless I happen to have a personal connection to the deceased (a real two-way connection, rather than the fan type that is the case with most of us and Halman), my level of sadness doesn't change because he happened to perform at something I enjoy. I didn't know him. He didn't know me. His death is undoubtedly a sad occasion, and tragic for his family, but no more tragic than the millions of others who died this week.
Maybe it's just my general discomfort with the culture of celebrity.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main