So it's that time of year again. The National Baseball Hall of Fame votes came out yesterday. I don't post too often, (and it's something I'm looking to change) but baseball is something that excites me and I figured it's something I could write about and throw my 2 cents worth on.
First off, I would like to congratulate Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman. All of them reached the 75% required of the 422 ballots cast and all four of them had stellar careers and dseserve their place in baseball's shrine. They are definite winners. But who else would qualify as a winner in my opinion? Well although falling short (297/319 required) Edgar Martinez did move up 12% in voting this year and spent a large percentage of his career as a designated hitter. No DH (primary position) has been elected to the hall. He only has one year left of eligibility left and my fingers are crossed for him! The other winner for me is Mike Mussina. His vote total also had a huge jump this year, moving up almost 12% as well. His 268 votes put him at 63.5% In his first couple of years of eligibility on the ballot he was under 25%. (And he still has 5 years left) As a side note, I've been a Jays fan my whole life and I absolutely hated it when the Jays were playing the Orioles (and later Yankees) and Mussina was on the mound. That guy was a beast and getting runs was sure to be a struggle! My hatred alone of him (as a player, not a person....I'd have loved him if he were on the Jays) has me rooting for him to make the hall.
Losers. I'm sure there is lots of room for arguing here and I completely understand if you don't agree with what I'm saying here. But my list of losers are Curt Schilling, Larry Walker, Jeff Kent, Fred McGriff, Jamie Moyer, Johan Santana, Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. The 4 later I mentioned (Jamie Moyer, Johan Santana, Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon) did not receive the 5% of votes required to stay on the ballot and are gone. Curt Schilling was such an excellent and dominant post season pitcher one would wonder how is he not in? Sometimes it's best to keep your big mouth shut! He has said (and I'm not gonna get into those details) a lot of things that have not endeared him to the voters. He did pick up some votes but is not getting the traction to trend upwards. He still has 4 years left but there are some BIG names coming up and voters only get 10 votes a year so.....sorry Mr. Bloody sock, maybe you can get in through the back door. (more about that in just a bit) Fred McGriff, the "Crime Dog" one of my favourite players (yes a Blue Jays biased but) had some excellent numbers (493 home runs, 5 time All-Star and led both leagues in home runs - Al in '89 and NL in '92) but still at a stagnant 23% and 1 year left ain't gonna make the cut. Jeff Kent with 14.5% is starting to lose votes and even though he has 5 years left I think this year signaled to him he is never getting that phone call either. Last on my list of losers is Larry Walker. I loved watching him play and personally think he should get the nod. 383 HR, 1311 RBI, 2,160 hits and a career .313 hitter you would take him on your team any day! I'd also love to see a few more Canadians in the HOF as well. (Here's looking at you Joey Votto, I can't see how you don't make it in when your turn comes around!) He did gain 12% in the voting this year as well, but unlike Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina he only sits at 34% with only 2 years left of eligibility it's pretty hard to see him make a 41% jump to make it in. On a side note, and I had mentioned this just a moment ago, the back door. You may say if you didn't get in you lost. But in the baseball world that is not correct. There is the magical Veterans Committee (I believe it is now known as the Modern Baseball Era Committee) that can induct players and personnel overlooked (Jack Morris and Alan Trammell getting inducted by them this year) so hope always remains for a few that really do deserve to be in. I mean, the baseball hall is complicated and seemingly unfair sometimes. Great players can get kicked in their first year if only because some monster names were also on the ballot and you only get 10 votes so sometimes just getting that 5% to remain eligible can be a mountain to climb itself.
Now lets talk about the cheaters. These guys were on the highlights everyday. They were the reason lots of us watched! We cheered hard for these guys as they breathed life into the game itself and were rewarded with some hefty contracts and commercial endorsements! If you've read this far you already know I'm talking about some of the biggest names in baseball itself, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. I'm aware that McGuire has been of the list for a couple of years but he is important to the conversation. Mark peaked out at 23% votes and Sammy is just under 8% (and even though he has 4 years left on the ballot could drop under the 5% required) It seems as though the voters did not forget the stain that those 2 bash brothers brought upon the sport, as big as the spotlight they brought to it in '98. McGuire with impressive stats that only a child watching could dream of - 583 HR, 1414 RBI, 12 time All-Star and temporarily held baseballs single season HR record with an incredible 70! Sammy Sosa also had incredible numbers, 609 HR, 1667 RBI and a 7 time All-Star. In the '98 season Sosa mashed an impressive 66 HR as well. There are 2 of these baseball cheats that still have a shot of being voted into the hall of fame however. Roger Clemens with 57% of the votes and 4 years of eligibility and Barry Bonds with 56%, also with 4 years left. Roger Clemens was one of the most impressive pitchers I've ever watched. He didn't juice his whole career (I don't personally believe) but only the later part as age and injuries took a toll as it does with all professional athletes. The Rocket pitched for 24 seasons and finished with 354 wins and 4,672 K. WOW! Barry Bonds has got to have the most impressive stats for a hitter, 762 HR, 1996 RBI, .298 career BA, 14 time All-Star and 8 Golden Gloves. He also holds ahem the single season record with 73HR** Both of these players have both denied ever using PEDs. Both of them seemed to have careers that we all thought were destined for the HOF early in their careers. But they both had careers that accelerated in their twilight years. Years where their stats should have fallen or diminished, not taken leaps and bounds like superheros. Bonds was the most glaring and obvious. he went from a regular sized ball player to looking like the Hulk! There are arguments to be made as to why they belong/don't belong. The worst arguments I've ever heard was, "Well, it wasn't against the rules to use steroids," "Everyone else was doing it," "Baseball knew and did nothing about it." Yes baseball should have stepped in a lot earlier. The rules now (basically 3 strikes and your out haha) for violating certainly do a lot to curb this, yet many still get caught every year. I'm going to tell you why these steroid cheaters, in my opinion only, should never make it into the hall. It promotes cheaters. It sends a message it's okay, we will forgive your sins and put you on the mantle. These guys don't belong on the mantle, they STOLE Mantle and Aaron's records. I was 10 years old when McGuire won Rookie of the year in Oakland in "86. Man did I (and every kid I knew) look up to him and wanted to be just like him! When I was 16 and played little league the only flaw in my game was poor hitting/power stroke. I was great at shagging a ball in the outfield and was a great base stealer as well but what did the coaches want? Power. Home runs. Some of the guys on the team offered to get me steroids to "help my game" I told them that it was cheating, it wasn't fair. They all laughed. They said if the guys in MLB were allowed, we should get in on it early, or a scout would never notice us. I quit playing at the end of the season knowing I could never keep up now. These guys influenced an ENTIRE GENERATION! If it affected a city of 200,000 like that (in Canada mind you, not even in the USA) I can just imagine what it did for the rest of North America. Please don't let them in. They didn't earn it the hard way like you're supposed to. They set the poorest of examples of sportsmanship available.
How do you feel about this? Let me know. I'd love to hear your feedback!
