High and In-Tight: 1.09.08

Posted by Ian Smart on 01.09.2008

Hall of Fame Voters must live up to a standard, but not a standard that was set in 1936.

Yesterday, the long wait for Rich ‘Goose' Gossage came to an end, as he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Several other candidates, Jim Rice, Jack Morris, Tim Raines, and Mark McGwire all fell short of the necessary 75% that is required for enshrinement in Cooperstown. This voting period, more than any other, was surrounded by the tensions of what's to come, because of the steroid era and the recent release of the Mitchell Report. So many questions now abound because of what has been revealed and for many of the members of the Baseball Writers of America who will have to decide whether or not those who have been implicated in the numerous performance enhancing drug scandals deserve enshrinement.

For many of the athletes who will soon come up for enshrinement the statistics, the accolades and the awards have been accumulated; they are unquestionably Hall of Fame eligible, but some writers feel as though their use of performance enhancing drugs should prohibit them from being inducted into Cooperstown. Those writers who argue against PED users cite the character clause that exists in the criteria for Hall of Fame induction as a means by which to justify excluding these players. Other writers feel as though even with the use of PEDs or the implication of PED use, the player's on-field accomplishments deserve enshrinement. I choose not to cast judgement on either group, because I have not firmly established my own view on performance enhancing drugs, but what I do know is that the one counter argument to excluding players who used performance enhancing drugs lacks a leg to stand on: Ty Cobb is in the Hall of Fame so you cannot exclude players based on character as long as he is in Cooperstown.

While it is true that Ty Cobb was less than an admirable human being; in fact, legend has it that he was a racist, a bigot, and he once went up into the crowd and beat up a crippled man. By all accounts he was not a pillar of moral virtue, but when he was elected into the Hall of Fame, the writers of the time overlooked those failings. We cannot know why they did: maybe some of the writers were racists, or surly or had a vendetta against cripples, but the point is that at that moment in time Ty Cobb met the criteria for being enshrined in Cooperstown. That is what makes the next few Hall of Fame votes so important; these writers get to set the bar; they get to establish whether or not PED users get to enter baseball's most hallowed shrine.

Writers cannot, and should not be held to the same standards as writers in the past – the players aren't. Four hundred home runs for a player who retired in 1950 is far more impressive than four hundred career home runs for a player retiring in 2006. The standards for enshrinement change overtime, so the writers can choose to invoke the character clause however they see fit. Those who voted in 1936 decided that being a racist could be overlooked; if the writers in 2008 decide that using performance enhancing drugs is a big enough character flaw to justify exclusion than they are free to do so; that is why they are entrusted with the responsibility of selecting Hall of Fame members. The only thing they must do is maintain their own standards for enshrinement.

Thus far, the writers have demonstrated that Mark McGwire, despite his 583 career home runs, 1400 RBI and career 162 OPS+ are overshadowed by the implication that he used performance enhancing drugs. McGwire had received about a quarter of the votes in both his years of eligibility, falling well short of the required number of votes to be inducted. The writers have spoken and now they must continue to let their voices be heard by excluding every other user of steroids or human growth hormone. That means that every writer who chose not to check McGwire's name must also refuse entry to Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Miguel Tejada, Roger Clemens and every other user who has been implicated to have used PEDs. And those writers who voted for McGwire cannot hold PED use against any subsequent players. They have set their own personal standards and they must hold to them, because that is part of their responsibility as Hall of Fame voters.

For me, I think they should all be included as if they had never taken performance enhancing drugs, but that it should be noted that they were implicated or proven to have used PEDs; it is part of the history of baseball and should, therefore, be chronicled. McGwire was one of the most dominant power hitters in baseball history; he may have cheated, but his accomplishments need to be noted and at the same time tarnished by the use of steroids. Place them in a separate wing of the Hall and let it be known that these were some of the most talented players in baseball history, but that at some point in their career they cheated and used PEDs. The same should be done with records earned under similar circumstances; Bonds used PEDs, his records are tarnished and should have an asterisk next to them indicating his use of steroids. The same should be done for Babe Ruth's single season home run record, because he hit sixty home runs in a shorter season than Roger Maris, Sosa, McGwire and Bonds. The asterisk does not necessarily need to be a black mark; it is a way of chronicling history.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a museum more so than it is anything else; it is intended to document the history of the sport. Steroids are an important part of baseball's history and should thus be included. Omitting McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, and Palmeiro is a travesty to the history of the game. It cannot be coloured over, or ignored, it happened and it must be a part of the Hall of Fame so that years from now people can see that these tremendous talents once dominated the game of baseball, but were suspected steroid users.

Baseball has endured a lot of low points, the steroid era being one of the lowest, but it still deserves a place in history, and the best way to recognize that place is by putting the dominant players of the steroid era into the Hall of Fame – marked accordingly- so that what has happened over the last fifteen – maybe more- years is recorded and persevered throughout time. These men were important; baseball returned to glory on the backs of McGwire and Sosa's home run chase, and continued to rise partly as a result of the increased home run totals being put up by players who previously showed little power. These years cannot be glossed over, what these men did needs to be chronicled; put the cheaters in the hall of fame, and let their stories be told!

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