WHY BONDS SHOULD MAKE THE HALL OF FAME:
After Selig nod, time to open door to juiced era
THE DECISION already is a regrettable one in many ways, but one that needs to be owned up to in full transparency.
Barely six weeks ago, a couple of days after PED-era commissioner Bud Selig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the former Veterans Committee, I explained why his impending induction in Cooperstown was the final impetus for me to reluctantly include all-time greats Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens on my ballot for the first time in their five years of eligibility for enshrinement.
Voting is a responsibility and privilege taken seriously by the overwhelming majority of BBWAA members. The approach to steroidstainted players has been the most divisive element among the electorate for the past decade and a decision I’ve wrestled with from the outset.
I’d previously attempted to remain consistent on the PED issue — considering those shrouded only by suspicion without any concrete evidence, while excluding those who have failed tests, admitted guilt, were reported to be on the 2003 survey list, were outed in the Mitchell Report, were accused in sworn testimony or had overwhelming FBI evidence revealed about them — often uncovered via thorough investigative reporting by my esteemed colleagues at this newspaper.
So I voted for suspected players such as Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell in the past, and had no problem checking off Bagwell or firsttimer Ivan Rodriguez this year under that premise.
While I begrudgingly added Bonds and Clemens this year, that still doesn’t open the floodgates in my mind for everyone in that PED-stained boat for inclusion.
Manny Ramirez, perhaps my favorite offensive player to watch in my lifetime, was omitted on his first appearance on the ballot because he failed two MLB-administered drug tests.
And I still haven’t changed my mind on Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro, tainted sluggers who no longer are on the ballot. I did at least consider Sammy Sosa, but he fell outside my top-10 choices for this year.
That said, here are my 10 selections for 2017, as well as my reasoning for a few of the toughest omissions: Bonds and Clemens, firsttimers Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero, and holdovers Bagwell, Jeff Kent, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Tim Raines and Curt Schilling.
Bagwell and Raines, in his 10th and final year on the ballot, appear to be certainties for overdue election, with both tracking at over 90 percent on Ryan Thibodaux’s excellent tracker of public votes.
Pudge and Vlad are expected to be right on the cusp, too, tracking barely on either side of the 75 percent enshrinement threshold, as is closer Trevor Hoffman, who I did not include for the second consecutive year.
If I had voted for one of the closers on the ballot, I likely would have picked ex-Met Billy Wagner over Hoffman and Lee Smith, despite Hoffman’s 601 career saves, which ranks second only to Mariano Rivera.
I’ve explained multiple times in the past month why I chose not to delete Schilling despite some of his public stances, believing his opinions should have no bearing on whether he was a Hall of Fame worthy candidate as a player, with his postseason performances putting him over the top.
Neither player has received much traction in past years on the ballot, but I also stuck with Kent (most home runs ever by a second baseman) and the unheralded McGriff (493 career homers) over Sosa, Gary Sheffield and Larry Walker.
As for former Yankees Mike Mussina and Jorge Posada, I get the cases made for both, but I just happen to believe that they fall short despite very good careers. And Posada appears in jeopardy of falling off the ballot after one year for not reaching five percent.