Quick disclaimer: Yes, I realize that title is corny, and probably been used, but who cares. I'm not exactly a professional writer here.
So, today no one was elected to the Hall of Fame. That in a vacuum isn't unprecedented. It last happened in 1996. In most years there are only one or two guys elected. However, this isn't a vacuum. This year was different, because this year was the first time that the "Steroid Era" guys were entering the ballot, the first time the BBWAA, or the baseball fans that spend way too long analyzing and debating HOF cases, had to debate the merits of guys that took steroids. This was the first year that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and to a lesser extent Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot. And, instead of having a normal, adult discourse, debating the merits of shunning or shedding light on a whole era of the sports history, what did the BBWAA do? They decided to lose their grasp on what their responsibility is, they decided to make statements on morality, they decided to cheapen the HOF, and they decided to smear everybody that played in an era of baseball as ancillary participant in the steroid era.
Honestly, no one should be surprised, because the writing was on the wall two years ago. In the 2011 HOF voting, Jeff Bagwell was given barely 40% of the vote. He has never once been connected to steroids. He has never once been hinted as a steroid user. He has insane stats (lifetime .400 OBP, 450 homers, great defense, decent speed, played his whole career for one team). Maybe he wasn't deserving of a first-time induction, but he was definitely deserving of far more than 40% of the vote. It was the HOF's first steroid-related embarrassment. After the vote was made public, multiple voters explained that they did not vote for Bagwell because he could have taken steroids. Basically, despite there not being a shred of evidence and no one ever intimating him in any steroid talk, Bagwell was being blackballed from the Hall because he fit the profile of a steroid user, in that he had big muscles, hit a bunch of home runs... and that is about it. Oh yeah, and he was teammates with Ken Caminiti (of course, Derek Jeter was teammates with multiple known steroid guys, I doubt that gets mentioned when he becomes eligible). When writers began admitting that they weren't voting for someone because they might have taken steroids despite zero evidence to even implicate him, we all should have realized the process was too far gone.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens both didn't get 40% of the vote in their 1st Year on the ballot. Mark McGwire got about 12.5% (he's been on the ballot before). Sammy Sosa got less than 10%. Bonds and Clemens might get in one day, but that isn't the point. The jury has spoken, and they are essentially saying that the Hall of Fame will not remain to be a museum of the history of baseball. What is the Hall of Fame without the guy who hit more home runs than anyone, and dominated the game in a way no one has since Babe Ruth? What is the Hall of Fame with a 350 game winner who won 7 Cy Young Awards? Yes, they took steroids. Yes, they knowingly cheated, but so did a ton of other people. So did players in the old days who threw the spitball, who used cork bats. There are cheaters all throughout the Hall of Fame. There are open racists, and adulterers, and drunks, and addicts. The Hall of Fame has never been about the integrity of the man, just the performance, at least until the writer's precious records came under fire.
Look, even I feel some sadness that the best players of the last 25 years were juicing. But guys like Barry Bonds was so good, that even if you reduce his numbers in his ridiculous 2001-2004 stretch by 25%, he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Same with Clemens. These guys were the best guys of their era. Clemens was pitching to other steroid users. Bonds was launching Home Runs off of steroid-using pitchers. Steroids were rampant around the league, and the writers knew about it. The owners knew about it. The commissioner knew about it. Everyone turned a blind eye during the chase of 1998 because if what it meant for the game, but when the chase in 1998 was over, and both eclipsed them in 1999 and then Bonds came in 2001, it wasn't so great for the game anymore, and the writers changed course. The problem here isn't the players, but the writers.
But the problem doesn't stop at just not letting guys like Bonds, Clemens and McGwire in. It is hard to argue with people who to their core feel that those guys' steroid use ruined the game, that it was cheating at a level that was unforgivable. Where the problem really starts to escalate was those using the HOF ballot to make a statement. Multiple people sent in blank ballots (despite the presence of candidates that no one thinks used roids), and justified it with a "I want to make a statement" excuse. Some people sent in a ballot with just one name, and one unqualified name (Dale Murphy) at that. Some people used their ballot, a simple vote that they turned into some god-like power, to justify some ridiculous stance they had. It is sad, really, that the Hall of Fame has turned into some large morality play, where everyone connected to the steroid era is getting blamed for an era that writers, commisioners, and owners knew about as well. It is sad that it has come to this. I've never visited Cooperstown before, but if Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, and most ridiculously Craig Biggio (who if he used steroids, was using the wrong ones) don't get in, I never will.
So, today no one was elected to the Hall of Fame. That in a vacuum isn't unprecedented. It last happened in 1996. In most years there are only one or two guys elected. However, this isn't a vacuum. This year was different, because this year was the first time that the "Steroid Era" guys were entering the ballot, the first time the BBWAA, or the baseball fans that spend way too long analyzing and debating HOF cases, had to debate the merits of guys that took steroids. This was the first year that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and to a lesser extent Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot. And, instead of having a normal, adult discourse, debating the merits of shunning or shedding light on a whole era of the sports history, what did the BBWAA do? They decided to lose their grasp on what their responsibility is, they decided to make statements on morality, they decided to cheapen the HOF, and they decided to smear everybody that played in an era of baseball as ancillary participant in the steroid era.
Honestly, no one should be surprised, because the writing was on the wall two years ago. In the 2011 HOF voting, Jeff Bagwell was given barely 40% of the vote. He has never once been connected to steroids. He has never once been hinted as a steroid user. He has insane stats (lifetime .400 OBP, 450 homers, great defense, decent speed, played his whole career for one team). Maybe he wasn't deserving of a first-time induction, but he was definitely deserving of far more than 40% of the vote. It was the HOF's first steroid-related embarrassment. After the vote was made public, multiple voters explained that they did not vote for Bagwell because he could have taken steroids. Basically, despite there not being a shred of evidence and no one ever intimating him in any steroid talk, Bagwell was being blackballed from the Hall because he fit the profile of a steroid user, in that he had big muscles, hit a bunch of home runs... and that is about it. Oh yeah, and he was teammates with Ken Caminiti (of course, Derek Jeter was teammates with multiple known steroid guys, I doubt that gets mentioned when he becomes eligible). When writers began admitting that they weren't voting for someone because they might have taken steroids despite zero evidence to even implicate him, we all should have realized the process was too far gone.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens both didn't get 40% of the vote in their 1st Year on the ballot. Mark McGwire got about 12.5% (he's been on the ballot before). Sammy Sosa got less than 10%. Bonds and Clemens might get in one day, but that isn't the point. The jury has spoken, and they are essentially saying that the Hall of Fame will not remain to be a museum of the history of baseball. What is the Hall of Fame without the guy who hit more home runs than anyone, and dominated the game in a way no one has since Babe Ruth? What is the Hall of Fame with a 350 game winner who won 7 Cy Young Awards? Yes, they took steroids. Yes, they knowingly cheated, but so did a ton of other people. So did players in the old days who threw the spitball, who used cork bats. There are cheaters all throughout the Hall of Fame. There are open racists, and adulterers, and drunks, and addicts. The Hall of Fame has never been about the integrity of the man, just the performance, at least until the writer's precious records came under fire.
Look, even I feel some sadness that the best players of the last 25 years were juicing. But guys like Barry Bonds was so good, that even if you reduce his numbers in his ridiculous 2001-2004 stretch by 25%, he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Same with Clemens. These guys were the best guys of their era. Clemens was pitching to other steroid users. Bonds was launching Home Runs off of steroid-using pitchers. Steroids were rampant around the league, and the writers knew about it. The owners knew about it. The commissioner knew about it. Everyone turned a blind eye during the chase of 1998 because if what it meant for the game, but when the chase in 1998 was over, and both eclipsed them in 1999 and then Bonds came in 2001, it wasn't so great for the game anymore, and the writers changed course. The problem here isn't the players, but the writers.
But the problem doesn't stop at just not letting guys like Bonds, Clemens and McGwire in. It is hard to argue with people who to their core feel that those guys' steroid use ruined the game, that it was cheating at a level that was unforgivable. Where the problem really starts to escalate was those using the HOF ballot to make a statement. Multiple people sent in blank ballots (despite the presence of candidates that no one thinks used roids), and justified it with a "I want to make a statement" excuse. Some people sent in a ballot with just one name, and one unqualified name (Dale Murphy) at that. Some people used their ballot, a simple vote that they turned into some god-like power, to justify some ridiculous stance they had. It is sad, really, that the Hall of Fame has turned into some large morality play, where everyone connected to the steroid era is getting blamed for an era that writers, commisioners, and owners knew about as well. It is sad that it has come to this. I've never visited Cooperstown before, but if Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, and most ridiculously Craig Biggio (who if he used steroids, was using the wrong ones) don't get in, I never will.
