Everyone needs to calm down about this Baseball Hall of Fame situation.
Cooperstown is pitching a shutout this year. No one got elected. And folks who don’t know hardball from hard-boiled eggs are frothing, ready to roast the ever-mocked Baseball Writers Association of America.
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But you people unanimously elected Barack Obama.
He's on steroids (although the Globe never says what he is doing, as evidenced by the major news events that stay off the Globe's pages.)
What the "H" does that mean Miker6? Just another wingnut comment that makes NO sense! If Barack Obama, came out and said it's a beautiful day the right wingnuts would say what's he doing not attending to business looking at the weather! My goodness. Lay off the guy, he is LIGHT-YEARS better than a McCain or a Romney could EVER have been!
I want to know who voted for Aaron Sele.
I agree with you on this one Dan. Bonds says he used PEDs but didn't know it...right. Clemens continues to tell us all that it was just his natural Texan strength and ability that enabled him to be so great after leaving Boston. Where he was in decline. Strange how both started performing like supermen in the latter part of their careers unlike most athletes who decline even futher the older they get. The point is: the cheated while others didn't. It is unfair to those who didn't cheat to allow those who did cheat to get high honors and immortal status in their world of baseball. If you are going to bend and vote for these guys then why not Pet Rose? After all, he didn't do PEDs to achieve the status he did while playing. He just bet on baseball. Didn't even try to fix games. How abut shoeless Joe? Another cheater...why not let him in too? Call me a purist but I don't think the guys who cheated should be let in ever. I don't buy the "MLB knew about it but didn't do anything" argument. Players knew they were not supposed to be taking steroids...that is why the went out of their way to hide it. They knew they were cheating......
Pete Rose bet on baseball. Jackson might or might not have been involved in the throwing of the world series--but pretty clearly was drummed out of baseball without the benefit of due process, which I guess would also be the defense of many of those currently under discussion. In the end the decisions will probably have to be made by how well they did against their peers--who had the same opportunity to use, or to publicize others use of peds. (If Jackson actually did take money to throw the series, he should have given it back--he hit .375 with some great plays out in center.)
Once a dopper always a dopper... Just look at the list of candidates this year is there any wonder why some of these guys didn't get the votes to get in ?????? I think we all know who they are!!!!!!!If not then you don't follow MLB ....
Best column of yours in a while.
I am not a sports enthusiast but I do watch some contests from time to time and try as I might I could not come down on one side or the other where PEDs were concerned. I just did not know because Clemens and Sosa, for examples, are two great ball players. Truly I think they did NOT need PED's but many were taking them at that time, so they did. Home runs talk and the money was there. I remained undecided UNTIL NOW. Dan Shaughnessy you convinced me you are correct! You are correct because its unfair to the men who do not use PED's who are darn good and because well it's just the right thing to do. And there are other reasons. I have read a number of articles that say not only are PED's not fair they are significantly unhealthful. Some have even been linked to cancer. Where Lance Armstrong is concerned I wondered if his alleged doping led to his testicular cancer. Of course it's simply speculation on my part no conclusions can be drawn but when you start fooling around with the human body's hormonal system I think you are asking for trouble. The body slows down at a certain point. It's supposed to. Females know that menopause happens because childbirth in old age would be excruciatingly dangerous and could and probably would kill. The body cannot take it. Likewise for the male to artificially pump up with male hormones from articles I have also read makes the male more aggressive and even violent. If one adds cancer to the probability mix these are just more reasons why doping should NOT be encouraged. And yes, character matters. Stopping these sportsmen from what they have been doing is simply the right thing to do for the generation that follows after them!
While I can see how the voting body would want to see how things will play out with those who played in the steroid era, one last opportunity was lost to give due donsideration to someone whom I consider a great player, Dale Murphy. I admit I do not know his specific numbers, but when you can be the face of a franchise for over a decade, whether they stunk or not, is testament that you're a great player. Im sure he was a several time All-Star. What if his stats are commensurate with post-steriod era hall of famers? Not only are there players who played in the steriod era who were never implicated in steriod use and nonetheless come under scrutiny, there's players like Murphy, who primarily played immediately before the steriod era, whose performance is being compared to the standards of the steriod era. This thng has more tentacles than an octopus.