Taking Barry Melrose's Twitter advise & waiting 8hrs to comment on game. What I can say: Detroit simply wants it more. Very frustrating.09:30:56 PM May 20, 2013from Twitter for Android
Only one player earned enough votes to be deemed Hall of Fame worthy by the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) – Mike Piazza, with 79.10%.
Roger Clemens finished third with 52.24%.
Jeff Bagwell & Barry Bonds tied for fourth at 50.75%.
Barry Larkin remains on the IBWAA ballot…not to be confused with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA).
Cubs:
Lee Smith – 35.82%
Fred McGriff – 13.43%
Sammy Sosa – 8.96%
Rafael Palmeiro – 7.46%
Kenny Lofton – 2.99%
Todd Walker – 0.00%
Rondell White – 0.00%
Each writer gets 10 votes, which I decided to use to select: Bagwell, Biggio, Bonds, Clemens, Larkin, E. Martinez, Piazza, Raines, L. Smith, L. Walker (Schilling will get my vote next year).
IBWAA members include Barry Bloom, Chris Haft and Jim Thomas, MLB.com; Thomas Bonk, Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Jim Caple, Mark A. Simon and David Schoenfield, ESPN.com; Fred Claire, former General Manager, Los Angeles Dodgers; Jonah Keri, Grantland; Joe McDonnell, FoxSportsWest.com; Tom Hoffarth, J.P. Hoornstra and Jill Painter, Los Angeles Daily News; Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times; and prominent baseball authors Paul Dickson, Peter Golenbock, Josh Pahigian, John Rosengren and Dan Schlossberg, among others (yours truly).
The question is whether or not suspected PEDs users, such as the three above, among others, should be elected.
I think they should be enshrined.
Now, before you start throwing stones…I’m not foolish enough to believe none of the eligible candidates cheated the game. In fact, I’d bet money I don’t have they did use performance-enhancers. Who are we kidding?
However, if baseball is ever going to move on from the Steroids Era it can’t allow this debate to fester on year-after-year, which it will, as long as a seven-time MVP is without a plaque in Cooperstown.
There’s no better example than Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader, whose legacy only grows with his exclusion from the hall. Granted, Rose wasn’t banished for steroids use, but cheating is cheating.
What I’m saying is Bonds, Clemens, Sosa etc. shouldn’t be given the privilege of such attention, like what Rose receives during the election announcements each year.
Instead, the writers must remind themselves the Steroids Era cannot be erased. What happened, happened. Yes, it’s a black on the game, but it can be healed.
Just as we learned to separate the Dead Ball Era from the Live Ball Era, fans will learn to do the same with the Steroids Era.
By the numbers we’ll know Bonds is the all-time home runs leaders and Clemens is one of the best hurlers ever. But we’ll also have an understanding they accumulated their numbers artificially, at least partially, and against other steroids users, no less.
Baseball’s most cherished statistics become no less sacred by electing players from the Steroids Era into the HOF. Rather, it will only help make the game’s history more transparent.
On the contrary, if the baseball writers chose to withhold their votes for highly suspected PEDs users the Steroids Era will never come to a close. And what could be worse than future Hall of Famers, even those decades from now, being overshadowed by the eternal debate of Bonds’ exclusion from the hall?
The writers can lop the head off the ugly Steroids Era monster by simply voting the roid players in, even though we know in our hearts, none are truly deserving of the honor.
Strangely, the decision to enshrine Steroids Era players would actually devalue the players’ accomplishments over time, thus bettering the game and the Hall of Fame itself. So put the cheaters in and move on with the understanding a certain period of the game’s history was chemically enhanced.
That doesn’t mean voters from this point forward should issue a free pass to future PEDs users eligible for the hall. We’re in a new era, more aware, more informed and better educated. Baseball’s steroid rules have been revised and most importantly, enforced. For all intents and purposes, it should be a non-issue.
In the meantime, reliving the Steroids Era with each new HOF ballot does the game no good. The writers need to bury baseball’s dead past and close the chapter on the Steroids Era once and for all.
Unfortunately, it takes putting some more scoundrels in Cooperstown. Call it an unpleasant, but necessary evil if you will.
1.) Former Cub Doug Glanville. 2.) Baker’s Reds NL Central Champs? 3.) Bonds Still In The Clear.
1.) Just recently a friend of mine asked me who Doug Glanville was on my LinkedIn page. In response I said “the former center fielder for the Cubs, remember?” Criketts…
“System engineer, New York Times columnist, the guy who went 293 consecutive games without a fielding error…hit the game-winning triple against Florida in the 2003 NLCS for the Cubs.” Nothing.
Well, I haven’t forgotten Glanville. Never will, either. He’s one of my all-time favorite Cubs. But for those who don’t remember Glanville, here’s a terrific article courtesy the Chicago Magazine.
Ann Killion of Sports Illustrated wrote an interesting article about how the Giants have moved on from Barry Bonds, who tossed out the ceremonial first pitch of Game 3 of the NLCS.
Bonds was in attendace at AT&T Park as part of the honoring of the club’s 2002 World Series team, which lost the series in seven games to Anaheim.
Even today I remember that Giants team well. I loved guys like Reggie Sanders, Benito Santiago, Kenny Loften and Robb Nen. I oohed & ahed over the brand new ballpark, and more than anything, I remember the Giants adopted theme song.
A song for which, I must apologize in advance for sharing before what could’ve been a wonderful weekend for you. But the memories, I tell you, are all worth it!
It’s a bad idea, it won’t work and it doesn’t change in any way what actually happened on the field.
If Selig wanted to protect baseball’s most cherished records he should have done so a decade ago by taking swift action against PED use and not waiting until A-Rod’s admission to steroid use Monday.
Besides, Selig doesn’t need to remove Bonds from the all-time HR list for baseball fans to know Aaron is still king.
All we can do moving forward is keep working to further understand exactly what happened during the late 1990s.
Then, take what’s learned and put it into perspective for that period of time.
In the meantime, here’s the all-time HR list with guilty steroid users removed…in parenthesis is where the player actually stands on the current list.
