Emotions are behind Kile's push for Hall

Preserving history. Honoring excellence. Connecting generations.

They're the phrases that define the National Baseball Hall of Fame from the Hall itself. But what credentials must an individual -- and I use individual because there are more than just players in the hall -- possess to be inducted into the Hall?

Perhaps it can be summed up like this: A person who left a lasting impression upon the baseball world. Something that is worth preserving so our children and their children and a lot of people will remember.

More often than not fans are too wrapped up in numbers and stats rather than the cold, hard, simple, unbreakable facts.

Darryl Kile is on the 2003 Hall of Fame ballot nearly six months after his death. The policy that a player must be retired for five years was pushed aside like a freshman that's ahead of you in the lunch line. But rules are meant to be bent.

Support for the Kile family and the Cardinals swept through the nation this year much like Fernando fever consumed Los Angeles in 1981 (coincidentally, Fernando Valenzuela is also on the 2003 ballot). Valenzuela won the '81 NL Cy Young and Rookie of the year award. The only thing Kile ever won was the honor of leading the Majors with the most losses (17 in '98). However, the three time All-Star twice finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting.

It's sad that Darryl Kile will, in all likelihood, go into the Hall because of his death and not because he was a great player.

Kile didn't produce the flashy stats or accolades that many of these candidates did. But his story deserves to be told for generations to come.

Here's the story for your week ahead:

Today

If you're like me you hate Mondays. But there is a way to ease your suffering: basketball. And there is plenty of it for the high school audience today. Oran (Bell City, Kelly, Scott County Central), Woodland (Advance, Delta, Leopold, Meadow Heights, Oak Ridge, Zalma) and Farmington (boys and girls: Central, Notre Dame, Jackson) all host tournaments.

Tuesday

High school wrestling flips off this week. And if you like that sort of thing you have two opportunities to see matches. Murphysboro, Ill. at Central and Jackson at New Madrid County Central. Both begin at 6 p.m. with JV matches.

Thursday

Here's your chance to be a part of swimming history. The first conference meeting between Central and Poplar Bluff is at 4 p.m. This is the first year area high schools have had a conference.

The Blues have the Senators, or do the Senators have the Blues? Either way you can have a Blues collector's glass presented by Verizon Wireless. This one is going to be off the hook.

Saturday

The SIU Salukis trot into town to face Southeast in men's hoops. Jermaine Dearman led the Salukis to the hoops promised land last year and it's safe to say the Salukis won't be Sweet again this year. In fact, consider them the Flukies of SIU. It's at the Show Me Center at 7 p.m.

David Wilson is a junior at Central High School. His column appears each Monday.