The Baseball Hall of Fame is announcing the results of this year’s election on Jan. 9, just about when this issue of Alive will hit the street. The results for two recent players will be of particular interest.
Barry Bonds was perhaps the greatest hitter since Babe Ruth and won seven MVP Awards. Roger Clemens was perhaps the greatest pitcher since World War II and won seven Cy Young Awards. Both are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Neither is likely to get in. How is that possible? In a word, steroids.
Bonds and Clemens are widely believed to have used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during their big league careers. Both played far longer than normal and put up incredible numbers. Many of us in the Bay Area were thrilled by the performances of Bonds during his 15 seasons with the Giants. During that time he set the single season and career record for homeruns.
Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro each had what would be considered Hall of Fame careers and have been up for election for several years. Both are associated strongly with PEDs, and neither has come close to receiving enough votes for enshrinement.
For many, it is an easy choice. If it is known or strongly believed that these players cheated and broke laws by using PEDs during their careers then they don’t deserve Hall of Fame status. Some think they’re fortunate not to be in prison. Others point out that the Baseball Hall of Fame is filled with dubious characters, so why single out steroid users? Yes, PEDs set a bad example for young fans, but so does racism, alcoholism, wife beating, and drug addiction. There are members of the Hall of Fame who are known to have done all those things.
Another point of view is that the steroid era is just another phase in baseball history, and that since many players from the 1990s and early 2000s were likely using PEDs, all we’re doing is recognizing the best of the best in what was likely a reasonably level playing field.
Before Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers, major leaguers achieved what they did in a time when a large segment of the American population was actively excluded from the game. Would players like Ruth and Joe DiMaggio achieved what they did if they had to face the best possible competition instead of just the best possible white competition?
International scouting has enriched the major leagues to the point where only about 65 percent of players were born in the United States. Would Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays have achieved what they did if their competition came from around the world instead of essentially from around the country?
The real shame is that players with absolutely no direct connection to PEDs, Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza are two examples, have to bear the increased scrutiny of Hall of Fame voters because they played in the steroid era and displayed unusual power.
Ten years ago one could reasonably assert that the very best players in the history of our national game were enshrined in Cooperstown. That is no longer true. Now, Hall of Fame status has to be explained and qualified, which takes something away from the honor for those who have achieved it and also for fans making a pilgrimage to honor the greats of the game.
So … are Bonds, Clemens, McGwire and Palmeiro Hall of Famers? What would you do if you had a vote?
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