We all fell for the futuristic leap, until we realized it was fake. Peel away the layers of steroid magic and what’s underneath is a con. That’s why an admitted user such as Mark McGwire won’t get my vote. Nor will Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Rafael Palmeiro, ever. Still, it’s not up to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to police the rest of the field; that’s Bud Selig’s job.
If he’s not going to block Bonds and Clemens – if the commissioner isn’t even willing to affix an asterisk next to their achievements – then let’s stop trying to parse the circumstantial evidence. Let’s move on, and in the spirit of amnesty, induct Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, as well. Yes, both. It’s time.
In 20 or so years we’ll remember this as the Steroids Era, the same way the early 1900s is viewed by historians as the Dead Ball era. The records of these time periods will be viewed accordingly; Bonds’ 762 homers will be as cartoonish as Cy Young’s 511 victories.
Already, to many, Hank Aaron, not Bonds, is the all-time home run leader. If we’re lucky, the record will someday be broken by someone who’s above suspicion. Until then, we’ll live with an imperfect sport, reflected by my choices in this imperfect ballot.
Repoz
Posted: December 21, 2012 at 10:07 AM |
39 comment(s)
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1. Lassus Posted: December 21, 2012 at 10:46 AM (#4329991)Larry Walker is third (69.7) and is not on his ballot.
I never thought of Trammell being overshadowed by Molitor since they never played the same position. I think he was hurt by being a contemporary of the best fielding shortstop ever (Ozzie), one of the best power hitting shortstops of all time (Ripken), another slam dunk HOF shortstop (Larkin), and by being eligible for the Hall when guys like Derek Jeter were active. In another era, Trammell seems like a pretty good HOF case, especially if he wins that MVP he was robbed of.
Overall, very good ballot though.
That's the first time I've seen that comparison made, and it seems pretty apt.
I don't deny Young's record, but I realize it is from a different time, and if that's how people view Bonds' record (legit, but with circumstances), that's not so terrible.
They shared a rookie card. They were both overshadowed by U.L. Washington and Mickey Klutts.
I remember people saying he was the 3rd best Shortstop in his division, behind Ripken and Yount.
When Ripken retired, Ripken and Yount were 2nd and 4th all-time in WAR among shortstops. This is the rare case where a guy could be the third-best in the division and also a legit Hall of Famer.
People who admitted use or tested positive during the Steroids Era should not be allowed in, but the man whose record embodies the era and who had a whole book written about his use of PED's shouldn't be blocked?
By calling it the Steroids Era, he is admitting that a lot of people were using and the players should be judged in that context. Why does eligibility hinge on getting caught?
158.1 Barry Bonds*
133.9 Roger Clemens*
76.7 Jeff Bagwell*
76.1 Curt Schilling*
72.7 Jim McCormick
71.4 Lou Whitaker
70.9 Bill Dahlen
69.7 Larry Walker*
67.3 Bobby Grich
67.1 Alan Trammell*
66.2 Tim Raines*
66.2 Rick Reuschel
66.1 Rafael Palmeiro*
* candidates on 2013 BBWAA ballot
Schilling and McCormick are the only two who are not members of the Hall of Merit.
People need to vote for Palmeiro.
No. Every single pitch was thrown by a professional pitcher, all 762 balls went over the wall. I saw a whole lot of them, personally.
If baseball had not shut him out at 42 after posting a 169 OPS+, he would have finished with around 830.
Almost a hundred more than Hank, now that would be a bit animated. But 7 more, after 22 YEARS playing at the highest level of the game?
This denigration of the incredible baseball skill set of Barry Bonds is laughable.
And FWIW I am anything but a Bonds disciple, I prefer my left fielders wear #8.
EDIT: Or were you saying that the ballot should have enough space on it to vote reasonably for a reasonable HoF candidate like Palmeiro? In which case, I agree.
False. At least 3 of them were inside the park home runs. Source
One was white and an asshat, the other was black and an asshat. The white guy gets the benefit of the doubt among white baseball writers.
Hey don't at look our home team brother, we had nowhere to play him.
I remember being about 7 years old and wondering just why this guy's nickname was Frank "Home Run" Baker when he could only hit 12 Home Runs. Gorman Thomas could do that by the break easy. I suspect at the same time I thought the Dead Ball Era meant ball players that were dead.
It helped just a little bit that he committed suicide before he was brought before a court of law.
Just thought I'd sneak that in before someone invokes Godwin's Law here.
I'm a huge Albert Belle guy as well! Favorite player of all time, in fact.
Why is Schilling not in the HoM?
He finished fifth in the most recent election, behind Bonds, Clemens, Piazza and Biggio in an Elect 4 year. He'll make it in the near future.
And would it have been Manny Ramirez or David Ortiz that Mr. 42 year old would have supplanted? Coming right off those guys getting world series rings.
Well, there's big hall and then there's BIG HALL.
Obvious and borderline (and I'm being really generous on the categories):
Bagwell
Raines
Trammell
Mcgwire
Palmeiro
Bonds
Clemens
Piazza
Schilling
Lofton
Biggio
Sosa
That's 12.
Stretching a little:
Morris
Smith
McGriff
Murphy
Walker
17
Stretching a lot:
Mattingly
Williams
19. To get to 20 you need Wells, Finley, or Franco.
Morris
Smith
McGriff
Murphy
Walker
WTF is Walker doing down here?
You also forgot Edgar.
1) Larry Walker is no kind of stretch for the Hall of Fame. He has a fully deserving HoF peak (three MVP quality seasons in '94, '97, and '01), a great combination of all-around hitting, baserunning, and defense. Basically, he's a better version of Dwight Evans. I'd take Walker easily over Lofton, Sosa, and Palmeiro.
2) Jack Morris is stretching a lot. I see basically no gap between his case and Chuck Finley's. He just pitched for better teams.
3) I'd just put Bernie Williams in the "stretching a little" group. If his defense was acceptable rather than bad earlier in his career (which was closer to the consensus evaluation at the time), there's not too much separating him a Murphy or McGriff.
Only a little?
Only a little?
Yeah, I think that's right. First, he's got 46 WAR which is right in Puckett's range. Second, he's got 60 oWAR. That's 6 more oWAR than Edmonds in 1000 more PA; 10 more oWAR than Dawson in 1000 fewer PA. If you're willing to overlook his defensive shortcomings (or simply don't believe they existed ... he did win 4 GG) he's a very viable candidate.
EDIT: Also McGriff -- if his career had started about 5 years earlier, he'd have gone in the way Rice and Dawson did.
Bernie was an obvious defensive liability after the knee and shoulder injuries took their toll, but he was perfectly cromulent early in his career in an "outrun his mistakes" sort of way. But yeah, 60 oWAR. I don't mind people ragging on his defense so much, but it sure would be nice if his hitting got the credit it deserves.
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