Steroid tsunami hits Cooperstown
The 540-odd baseball writers — and you know how that is meant — who annually vote for the Hall of Fame class knew it would come to this.
We are, allegedly, ancient idiots who, after years of watching and reporting and talking to those involved, couldn’t possibly have the same understanding of the game as those who mould statistics according to the latest truth-revealing formula. They, like religious zealots, know the only true path to enlightenment and scorn all others.
This year, in addition to allegedly not understanding numbers that matter — even though some of us were reading Bill James 30 years ago — those tasked with guarding Cooperstown’s entry gate are required to not only reset their moral compass but to make it jive with everyone else’s. It’s a job no more difficult than putting one’s elbow into one’s ear.
As became apparent when the ballot was revealed this week, the full steroid-era tsunami has crashed upon the Hall of Fame seashore, namely Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza, to gently libel four men who didn’t necessarily fail the tests as administered but would be accepted by many, if not all, rational observers as having benefitted from bottled help during their careers. We have had a sample, with five years of mostly ignoring Mark McGwire and a discourteous welcome for Rafael Palmeiro. There were baseball-related arguments to keep those two out, if you chose to ignore the issue of performance-enhancing drugs. But those arguments do not exist in the cases of Bonds and Clemens, each near the top of the argument to identify both greatest player and pitcher in history. This time it is about more than statistics and what we saw and heard and how we feel about a player’s dominance and where his career stacks up. Now it’s an abortion issue, meaning there is no middle ground and anyone who does not agree with you should go straight to hell.
We will be fried as lacking moral standards by admitting what one camp likes to call “cheats” and we will be burned even worse for seemingly claiming some kind of moral high ground and keeping them out. There are no other alternatives. (And this voter still is sorting it all out.)
Major League Baseball, which never cared much about the issue of performance-enhancing drugs when it was happening, issues no guidelines. MLB is more concerned with gambling as an issue, barring Pete Rose forever — and please don’t make the Pete Rose case, that if the No. 1 in hits guy isn’t in then you can’t vote in the drug cheats. The electors were never given the chance to vote on Rose; he was barred from the ballot. Not
so with the drug-tainted class. The Hall of Fame and MLB is leaving it up to the voters to make the call. With that responsibility naturally comes the heat.
It was easier when we merely got slagged for voting in Andre Dawson.
ON THE CORNER: One envelope annually comes the longest distance to help the Jim Proudfoot Corner of the Star’s Santa Claus Fund. Out of it fell a bunch of cheques totalling $250 in memory of Bill Feinstein and to remember journalist Tony Allison, com
edy writer Alan Kirschenbaum and Beth Lummiss. They travelled from Bangkok, Thailand — it was Kusuma and Joe Fein
stein checking in once again. Toronto’s Ian Strachan always includes a mention of good friend Bob Apsey when he mails his $100. From Orillia comes $100 in memory of Clary Payne, sent by Louise,
Jennifer and Julie. Another $100 drops from Lionel and Laura Hazell of Kitchener and local golf guru Ted Maude sends the same in memory of his (and our) great pal
Rick Fraser.