HangingSliders

My Hall of Fame Non-Heroes

And then there are those Hall of Fame voters and other baseball writers who make now-discredited arguments about PEDs and the Hall of Fame. Or who make new, nonsensical arguments. Or who punt, because that’s the easiest thing to do.

Here are my Hall of Fame Non-Heroes:

Cody Derespina, Newsday: Baseball Hall of Fame Debates 2013: Barry Bonds 

Danny Knobler, CBSSports.com: Bonds, Clemens and the Hall of Fame: Do we want them there? 

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: Why I’m not voting for Bonds, Clemens or Sosa 

Christine Brennan, USAToday: Hall of Fame for Bonds, Clemens or Sosa? Really? 

Hal McCoy, Fox Sports Radio Ohio: Do Bonds, Clemens Belong in Hall?

Lowell Cohen, Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Bonds doesn’t get my Hall of Fame vote 

Ron Chimelis, The Republican: Evidence too strong against Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens and Sammy Sosa 

Garry Brown, The Republican: Steroid cheat strikes out on this ballot

Bill Madden, Daily News: In addition to a player’s ability, the Baseball Writers Association considers integrity and sportsmanship when deciding who gets to the Hall of Fame 

Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa will have to wait for votes on this ballot 

John McGrath, The News Tribune: Murphy, Mattingly get my vote; Bonds, Sosa, Clemens do not

More Hall of Fame Heroes

As I said in my first post:

My goal over the next few months is to highlight those BBWAA voters — and other baseball writers — who write sensible, supportable stories on PEDs and the Hall of Fame. Sure, most of the writers I discuss here will be those who agree with my view. But others may come up with arguments I haven’t thought about, and present them in a way that makes sense, even if I don’t agree. 

More heroes:

Ken Davidoff,New York Post: My 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot

Bill Ballou, Worcester Telegram: Bonds, Clemens and McGwire will get my Hall of Fame Vote

Christopher Gasper, Boston Globe: Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds deserve to be in the Hall of Fame

Dan Wade, Sports Illustrated: Steroid use, real or rumored, did not make Hall of Fame careers

Lynn Henning, Detroit News: On this ballot, yes, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens belong in the Hall of Fame

Jay Jaffe, Sports Illustrated: All of Jay’s HOF Articles, using his JAWS metric to analyze the candidates. You can find the articles at mlb.si.com

My Hall of Fame Heroes

Yesterday, the Baseball Writers Association of America released 2013 Hall of Fame ballot. Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens. Sammy Sosa. Jeff Bagwell. Craig Biggio. Mike Piazza. You can find the full slate here. If you’re reading this, then you know much, if not most, of the discussion around this Hall of Fame class will involve so-called PEDs — who allegedly took PEDs, whether PEDs really matter to a player’s performance, whether such players should be banned from the Hall under the character clause or some other moral basis, etc. 

Here’s my view. Many players likely took PEDs. We don’t know who. We don’t know for how long. We don’t know how it affected their bodies, their strength, their flexibility, their instincts, their performance. We don’t know how it affected baseball records. We simply don’t know. It’s a part of baseball history and voting to keep out players suspected of using PEDs doesn’t change the history or whitewash it. Players should be voted into the Hall based on their accomplishments on the baseball field. Period. 

Many BBWAA voters don’t share my view. Many will vote to keep out any player whom they suspect of PED use. I strongly disagree with this approach.

But the tide is turning, slowly.

My goal over the next few months is to highlight those BBWAA voters — and other baseball writers — who write sensible, supportable stories on PEDs and the Hall of Fame. Sure, most of the writers I discuss here will be those who agree with my view. But others may come up with arguments I haven’t thought about, and present them in a way that makes sense, even if I don’t agree. 

I call these writers My Hall of Fame Heroes. Here’s the current list:

Pete Abraham, Boston Globe: Erasing a Line in the Sand

Ray Ratto, CSN Bay Area: The Hall of Fame is not a Church

Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Spare Us From Baseball Writers’ Sermon

Jay Jaffe, Sports Illustrated: New Hall of Fame Ballot Weighty in Talent and Controversey

Craig Calcaterra, Hardball Talk: It’s lunacy to keep Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame

Joe Posnanski, Joe Blog: The Three PED Arguments

Buster Olney, ESPN.com: The writers’ Hall of Fame condundrum

I’ll be updating the list periodically. Please send suggestions for other Hall of Fame Heroes.