http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-sports/2012/07/20/hall-of-fame-is-about-to-get-down-and-dirty/
SPORTS NEWS FROM USA TODAY
Hall of Fame is about to get down and dirty
by Bob Nightengale on Jul. 20, 2012, under USA Today Sports
Source: USA TODAY
The greatest living players will take the stage this weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Take a good look at them because they likely represent the last vestiges of innocence in this game, baseball’s final clean Hall of Fame class.
Here come the dirty players next summer, and there will go the neighborhood.
Barry Bonds, baseball’s home run king and perhaps the greatest all-around player since the sport was integrated, is on the ballot for the first time this December. Roger Clemens, the most dominant pitcher of his generation, with 354 victories, will be there. So will Sammy Sosa and his 609 home runs. And Mike Piazza, the greatest power-hitting catcher in history. And first baseman Jeff Bagwell— again.
None of these players ever publicly tested positive for steroids or amphetamines. Yet whether they appeared in front of a congressional hearing, were tried in federal court, were accused by their former trainers or teammates or flunked the eye test with their distorted bodies, all have been painted as cheaters to some degree.
Hall of Famers such as Reggie Jackson vow there will be a boycott if any players linked to illegal performance-enhancing drug use are inducted into the shrine. Goose Gossage plans to be heard, loud and clear, if any steroid user gets into the Hall. The stage might be empty.
However, as a tenured member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America who has a Hall of Fame vote, let me offer two words to those players on the next ballot: Welcome, fellas.
There, I said it. I will vote for Bonds. And Clemens. And Sosa. And Piazza. I’ll think about Bagwell. And will continue voting for Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive in his final season when he reached 3,000 hits.
Go ahead, unleash those nasty e-mails and comments. Hey, it’s OK to admit racists, criminals, drunks and recreational drug abusers, but let’s not tarnish the sacredness of the Hall of Fame.
Please.
These players linked to PEDs belong in Cooperstown. They are the greatest of their generation. It just so happens to be the steroid generation.
If you want to put an asterisk on their plaque, as former home run king Hank Aaron suggests, so be it. If you want to put them into a separate wing, no problem. But to banish them is wrong.
These guys played in a generation when everyone looked the other way.
Did anyone really believe Mark McGwire and Sosa could hit balls farther than anybody ever, looking like cartoon characters with their massive arms and chests, and do it naturally?
Did we really believe the outbreak of acne, the rash of joints and limbs popping from bones and the increase in head sizes was simply an epidemic that mysteriously invaded baseball?
When the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers showed up each spring looking bigger than the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, did we suddenly believe that baseball had greater training methods than the NFL?
If you want the truth, baseball general managers and managers loved having steroid users on their team. They were typically the most dedicated players. They ate right. They got their rest at night. And, oh, did they ever train.
And how about this: Do we know there aren’t any steroids users already in the Hall of Fame? Aren’t amphetamines considered a performance-enhancer? If so, can any Hall of Famer stand up and say he never used amphetamines before a game?
The trouble with being judge and juror as a Hall of Fame voter is that we don’t know who was clean and who was dirty. Are you going to keep Bonds out but let Clemens in because Clemens was exonerated in court while Bonds fights his conviction on obstruction of justice? Are you going to let Piazza in and keep out Sosa while both deny taking steroids?
Let’s judge these players solely on their performance on the field, and if inducted, remember that they were the best players during their era.
It just so happens to be the steroid era.
The Baseball Hall of Fame, after all, is a historical museum and not a cathedral.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
SPORTS NEWS FROM USA TODAY
Hall of Fame is about to get down and dirty
by Bob Nightengale on Jul. 20, 2012, under USA Today Sports
Source: USA TODAY
The greatest living players will take the stage this weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Take a good look at them because they likely represent the last vestiges of innocence in this game, baseball’s final clean Hall of Fame class.
Here come the dirty players next summer, and there will go the neighborhood.
Barry Bonds, baseball’s home run king and perhaps the greatest all-around player since the sport was integrated, is on the ballot for the first time this December. Roger Clemens, the most dominant pitcher of his generation, with 354 victories, will be there. So will Sammy Sosa and his 609 home runs. And Mike Piazza, the greatest power-hitting catcher in history. And first baseman Jeff Bagwell— again.
None of these players ever publicly tested positive for steroids or amphetamines. Yet whether they appeared in front of a congressional hearing, were tried in federal court, were accused by their former trainers or teammates or flunked the eye test with their distorted bodies, all have been painted as cheaters to some degree.
Hall of Famers such as Reggie Jackson vow there will be a boycott if any players linked to illegal performance-enhancing drug use are inducted into the shrine. Goose Gossage plans to be heard, loud and clear, if any steroid user gets into the Hall. The stage might be empty.
However, as a tenured member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America who has a Hall of Fame vote, let me offer two words to those players on the next ballot: Welcome, fellas.
There, I said it. I will vote for Bonds. And Clemens. And Sosa. And Piazza. I’ll think about Bagwell. And will continue voting for Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive in his final season when he reached 3,000 hits.
Go ahead, unleash those nasty e-mails and comments. Hey, it’s OK to admit racists, criminals, drunks and recreational drug abusers, but let’s not tarnish the sacredness of the Hall of Fame.
Please.
These players linked to PEDs belong in Cooperstown. They are the greatest of their generation. It just so happens to be the steroid generation.
If you want to put an asterisk on their plaque, as former home run king Hank Aaron suggests, so be it. If you want to put them into a separate wing, no problem. But to banish them is wrong.
These guys played in a generation when everyone looked the other way.
Did anyone really believe Mark McGwire and Sosa could hit balls farther than anybody ever, looking like cartoon characters with their massive arms and chests, and do it naturally?
Did we really believe the outbreak of acne, the rash of joints and limbs popping from bones and the increase in head sizes was simply an epidemic that mysteriously invaded baseball?
When the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers showed up each spring looking bigger than the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, did we suddenly believe that baseball had greater training methods than the NFL?
If you want the truth, baseball general managers and managers loved having steroid users on their team. They were typically the most dedicated players. They ate right. They got their rest at night. And, oh, did they ever train.
And how about this: Do we know there aren’t any steroids users already in the Hall of Fame? Aren’t amphetamines considered a performance-enhancer? If so, can any Hall of Famer stand up and say he never used amphetamines before a game?
The trouble with being judge and juror as a Hall of Fame voter is that we don’t know who was clean and who was dirty. Are you going to keep Bonds out but let Clemens in because Clemens was exonerated in court while Bonds fights his conviction on obstruction of justice? Are you going to let Piazza in and keep out Sosa while both deny taking steroids?
Let’s judge these players solely on their performance on the field, and if inducted, remember that they were the best players during their era.
It just so happens to be the steroid era.
The Baseball Hall of Fame, after all, is a historical museum and not a cathedral.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
