CORRECTION: Joe Paterno

I would like to apologize for forwarding reports that former Penn State Football Coach, Joe Paterno, had died, Saturday night. Wirtz On Sports serves as an outlet for sports information that I gather from numerous media sources. Since I do not independently gather information on my own, I rely on credible media information to report the latest sports news. I, as a rule, make sure I have two sources before reporting any information. Tonight, Onward State, which is a student news organization that serves Penn State, reported first that Paterno had passed away. After seeing their report on Twitter, I waited to see if any major news organization confirmed the story. The first I saw was CBS Sports. They were followed by The Big Lead, Huffington Post, Deadspin, and a few others. ESPN, CNN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports, among others, did not report Paterno had passed away. Immediately after seeing CBS Sports went with the story, I posted Onward State's report, giving them the credit, as I always try to give the original source credit for a major news story. It turns out, Onward State was wrong. Both of Joe Paterno's sons, Jay and Scott, posted separate messages on Twitter, stating their father is still alive, but in grave and serious condition.

I know I have just a small following on both Facebook and Twitter, however, I take pride in making sure I report accurate information from the sources I post on my pages. I pledge that I will take even more care in making sure I have not two, but at least three, credible media sources before I post such a major story.

It's Time For Morris To Get The Call...

It doesn't matter how much time passes, Jack Morris is a Baseball Hall of Famer. The 2012 class was announced today, and former Cincinnati Reds Shortstop, Barry Larkin, was the only player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America, receiving 86% of the vote (75% is needed for induction). While Larkin's induction is more than deserving, Morris, who received 67% of the vote this year (received 53.5% last year), should have been voted in as well.

No one in the decade of the 80s won more games than Morris. When you wanted to win a game, he was the one that you wanted to give the ball to. Sometimes it wasn't pretty, but when he needed an out, he got one. In his career, Morris was the ace on three World Series winning teams (Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto); won 254 games, completed 175 games, and had 28 shutouts. He pitched a No-Hitter in 1984, won 20 games three times, and pitched 10 innings in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and beat the Atlanta Braves, and John Smoltz, 1-0, to lead the Minnesota Twins to their first ever World Series title.

Critics of Morris point to his 3.90 career ERA and lack of awards, as some of the reasons why he is not deserving of the Hall of Fame. Baseball Reference's website compares his numbers to Hall of Famers, Bob Gibson, Red Ruffing, Amos Rusie, Burleigh Grimes, Bob Feller, and Jim Bunning. I'd argue he has better or comparable numbers with Ruffing, Grimes, and Bunning.

I think a lot of voters look too much at numbers and forget about what they saw when these players played. Bottom line is, Morris is a Hall of Famer. He is only on the writer's ballot for two more years. Despite the deep 2013 ballot, I think Morris gets in, as 2013 will be the first year where a lot of "Steroid Era" players will be on the ballot. Writers, it's time. Vote Jack Morris into the Hall...