Ron Paul Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Impact

It may not be Cooperstown, but the Congressional Quarterly Roll Call Baseball Hall of Fame has announced that long-time Texas Congressman and famed libertarian Ron Paul is being inducted as a member. That’s right; Ron Paul (not Paul Molitor). For seven years in the 1970s and 1980s, Paul played for the Republican congressional team, racking up a solid .294 batting average. In 1979 Paul hit the first ever out-of-the park home run in a congressional game. His career total of one home run ties the number of audits there has been of the Federal Reserve since it was established in 1913, which was also accomplished by Paul since he sponsored the legislation that made it happen.

This January, Paul will officially retire from Congress and perhaps politics in general. He ran for president three times—1988, 2008, and 2012. Like his hometown Houston Astros, Paul never won it all. Instead he had to exert influence via less glamorous means, by causing a lot of ruckus and making things difficult on the league’s contenders, even occasionally playing spoiler. 

Whatever one thinks of Ron Paul or his positions, the consistency he practices is virtually unheard of in this era of shameless political pandering. There is no difference between Paul's thinking and his actions. And he does not care how much some may hate his positions. So much so that he has repeatedly schooled jingoistic Republican debate audiences about the perils of warmongering to nasty jeers. 

The merits of Paul's views and approach to politics may be legitimately debated, but one thing cannot: the guy could crush a baseball.

(Paul smacks a double at the 4-minute mark