The Donnie Moore Tragedy 25 Years Later

joyofsox

empty, bleak
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
7,552
Vancouver Island
Thanks for this! Sowell's book - which came out in 1995, I think - is quite good.
 
(I wish there was a text-only print link on these long articles for old farts who like to read lengthy things on paper.)
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,993
Newton
Worth noting that the article paints a less than flattering picture of old friend Mike Port as the Angels' GM for calling Moore out in the press in 1987 for "whining" about being injured, to which Moore responded by going out, pitching hurt and getting shelled.
 

Suze

New Member
Nov 8, 2010
13
joyofsox said:
Thanks for this! Sowell's book - which came out in 1995, I think - is quite good.
 
(I wish there was a text-only print link on these long articles for old farts who like to read lengthy things on paper.)
I agree, and here's what this old fart does when she wants to take something like this and print it out:
 
1. Create a new Word (or similar) document with a meaningful name, and then open it.
2. With the 'long article' open, at the top of the window, click 'Edit' then 'Select All.'
3. Click 'Edit' again, and then 'Copy.'
4. Go back to the open Word doc, and at the top of the window, click 'Edit' then 'Paste.'
5. Now that you have a copy of the article in this Word doc, you will need to "pretty it up" somewhat (e.g., take out not-needed links, resize the text, resize or delete images) so that all extraneous stuff is removed.
6. Print, and read at your leisure
 
Note: shortcuts (like ctrl-C) can be used, but I won't get into those here.
 

HriniakPosterChild

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 6, 2006
14,841
500 feet above Lake Sammammish
Suze said:
I agree, and here's what this old fart does when she wants to take something like this and print it out:
 
1. Create a new Word (or similar) document with a meaningful name, and then open it.
2. With the 'long article' open, at the top of the window, click 'Edit' then 'Select All.'
3. Click 'Edit' again, and then 'Copy.'
4. Go back to the open Word doc, and at the top of the window, click 'Edit' then 'Paste.'
5. Now that you have a copy of the article in this Word doc, you will need to "pretty it up" somewhat (e.g., take out not-needed links, resize the text, resize or delete images) so that all extraneous stuff is removed.
6. Print, and read at your leisure
 
Note: shortcuts (like ctrl-C) can be used, but I won't get into those here.
 
Easier yet. 1) Go to https://www.readability.com/bookmarklets, 2) drag the "Read now" bookmarklet to the bookmarks bar in your browser, 3) Visit the long article, 4) Click "Read now" 5) Print. 
 
Or don't print. I just read off the screen after the distractions have been stripped away.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
This isn't a story about baseball. This piece from The Atlantic from a few years ago articulates how I feel better than I could.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/the-myth-of-the-home-run-that-drove-an-angels-pitcher-to-suicide/247447/?single_page=true

(I'm sure it was linked here before, as I can't think how I would have seen it otherwise.)

A lot of men who have faced greater adversity than Donnie Moore don't terrorize their wives, attempt to murder them, then blow their brains out in front of their children. I believe in not judging others, and I'm sure Moore had his demons, but if you're going to spare some empathy for a stranger, almost anyone is a better choice than Moore. The "tragedy" here is that his widow obviously carries some guilt about the way Moore ended his life, notwithstanding the fact he did his level best to end hers that day too.

Fuck SI for publishing this article, and fuck the author for prodding his widow to relive her ordeal so they could write an article that had more to do with a baseball game than with domestic violence. At least he appears to have had the decency not to disturb Moore's children, who are undoubtedly scarred by the experience also.

Edit: Maybe a little harsh on Sowell -- I lost sight of the fact this is an excerpt from a book, so I shouldn't judge this excerpt out of context (though I question whether disturbing Moore's widow to provide info for his book on the '86 Angels was appropriate). I stand by what I said about SI.
 

JohntheBaptist

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
11,399
Yoknapatawpha County
He did involve the children--the daughter is a major part of the article, and he mentions the two boys that watched their dad nearly gun down their mother before turning the gun on himself in front of them opted not to participate.
 
I'm not going to speak ill of the guy either, but I agree totally with mauf, and had the same reaction.
 
Also felt like the article was pretty uneven as a piece of writing. Lots of awkward phrasing, confusing sentences.