MLB Hall of Fame voters delusional about PED era

Another year of injustice has come and gone. Specifically, another year of two legends
(Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens) not getting enshrined into the Major League Baseball
Hall of Fame.

The case against them gets weaker every year even though they and a number of others
starred in what is known as The Steroid Era.

Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman were rewarded
Wednesday, easily elected in the newest class headed for Cooperstown, New York.

Jones and Thome made it 54 players elected in their first year of eligibility by members
of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Players must be retired for five years
to be eligible. Jones drew 97.2 percent (410 of 422) of the vote and Thome was at 89.8
percent — 75 percent is needed for election.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, both involved in baseball’s steroids scandal, edged up
but again fell far short.

Clemens, winner of seven Cy Young Awards, got 57.3 percent after drawing 54.1 percent
last time. Bonds, the career home run leader and a seven-time MVP, reached 56.4 percent,
up from 53.8 percent. Clemens and Bonds each get four more attempts.

While I believe the four aforementioned inductees are deserving and understand that every
voter and/or person is entitled to his or her own principle over players taking Performance
Enhancing Drugs (PED), can we really be honest with ourselves? Being in favor of Bonds
and Clemens along with PED users being Hall of Fame worthy is not about condoning their
use of such enhancements.

For openers, these PEDs were not against the rules at the time players of this era used them
so where does the cheating part come into the equation? The time frame in which the use
began and ended is far from definitive.

Who are we to say that some players used but never got caught? If such a player earns a
plaque, it hardly seems fair to deny the honor to players who confessed their guilt. Even
if they did not confess any guilt, who gives a damn. It’s as if these voters are electing guys
based on their public relations skills.

Sure Bonds, and to a lesser extent Clemens, were prickly personalities but is Hall of Fame
enshrinement about honoring great players or great people? Ty Cobb is one of the most
bigoted people on planet Earth and he is in Cooperstown. And please don’t come at me
with the, “setting an example for kids” argument, which is cop out parenting at its finest.

PED use did not make the playing field unlevel because pitchers as well as hitters were
using them. I could stick a needle in my ass today and it’s not going to make me a better
hitter nor will it make me stronger. For openers, you still have to put in the work at the
gym. You can’t just sit on your couch and eat Bon Bons. Secondly, hitting a baseball is
not about strength, it’s about hand-eye coordination. PED use might be the difference
between a warning track out versus a ball clearing the fence by say 8-10 feet but when I
look at those linked to PED use such as Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco,
Jason Giambi, etc., I don’t remember many of their home runs barely clearing the fence.

In addition, there were several marginal players that used PEDs did not benefit them.
More than half the players listed on the Mitchell Report were scrubs.

In every aspect of professional sports, people have been doing things to gain an edge
since the beginning of time whether it was Gaylord Perry doctoring baseballs, players
using greenies (aka amphetamines), Fred Biletnikoff and Lester Hayes using Stickum
just to name a few.

Another hypocrisy is that the same commissioner, Bud Selig, that presided over The Steroid
Era is in the Hall of Fame and he did nothing but benefit financially from that time. In the
meantime, the players on the field did the work to increase business.

Let’s not forget that Selig’s era included a strike that cancelled the World Series in 1994.
Gee that speaks well of MLB’s then fearless leader. Fan interest had taken a precipitous
drop as a result, then 1998 and 2001 happened. The latter included a spirit chase at the
single-season home run record between McGwire and Sosa. Both broke Roger Maris’
long-standing mark of 61, which stood since 1961. Sosa hit 66 and McGwire 70 in 1998.
In 2001, Bonds eclipsed the mark with 73.

The home run chase brought back fan interest. That meant better attendance at games and
increase in television ratings. Fans, media and Selig chose to turn a blind eye as business
was booming. They knew full well what was going on and now they are appalled? And
please, spare me the puke inducing verbiage of “but that doesn’t make it right.”

I also rake the BWA over the coals for this as well. By no means do I lump everyone in
this category. There are many good ones. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are
blessed with a first-rate columnist in Bruce Jenkins. Henry Schulman and Susan Slusser
do a brilliant job covering the Giants and A’s respectively as beat writers for the San
Francisco Chronicle.

Some BWA members, and fans that share similar views, fail to realize that industry
benefited from the Steroid Era in the form of TV and radio ratings and newspaper circulation
increasing.

OK, so Bonds and Clemens did not make many friends in the media. In all walks of life,
do you ever make apologizes on whether or not people like you? Yet there are media
members so butthurt because they were not good to them.

Who cares? This is sports, not the Boys Scouts. Bonds and Clemens being in the Hall of
Fame is such a no-brainer it kills me.

The people that make arguments against Bonds and Clemens’ qualifications for
enshrinement are only letting you know how unworldly they really are and how they only
think sports works in a perfect vacuum with nothing but choirboys pulling all the strings.

I was a sports reporter for 18 years until changing careers. Most of my time was spent
covering high school athletics in the Napa Valley with a smattering of freelance work for
an Oakland Raiders fan magazine.

As a high school sports reporter, I was part of all-Napa County selection team for various
sports. I can tell you with a straight face that I never voted against a youngster’s candidacy
because I did not like him or her, the parents or the coach. If their performance said, “no
brainer all-county,” they got my vote.

For Coach of the Year votes, I never voted against someone because I had issues with
them. The coach that was the biggest pain in the butt for me was a girls basketball coach
whose name I won’t mention. Fortunately, said coach’s team won only about 34 percent
of their games so it was a non-issue.

By no means am I comparing an All-Napa County vote to a MLB Hall of Fame vote but
it’s about principle.

Bottom line, Bonds and Clemens belong in the Hall of Fame.