Steroids taint to muscle out candidates
The question of which baseball players — if any — are going to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year will be answered today at 1 p.m. Central when the announcement is made live on the MLB Network.
This year’s ballot is one of the most controversial in baseball history. Headlined by seven-time MVP Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, this year’s field is part of a continuing referendum not on the gaudy numbers of some of baseball’s greatest players, but on the steroid era in which they played.
Bonds and Clemens, who are both on the ballot for the first time, are not expected to receive the necessary 75 percent of the vote from the eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America because they have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
Slugger Sammy Sosa, also a firsttimer, is likely to be snubbed as well because of his association with steroids. Voters have not been kind so far to steroid-tainted sluggers Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, who are both still on the ballot but have not gotten close to enshrinement in the past.
If early, unscientific polls of Hall of Fame voters published in the last week are any guide, former New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza represents a sticky situation for the more than 600 current and retired writers expected to cast ballots. A first-timer on the ballot, Piazza was one of the greatest hitting catchers ever; his 396 home runs when in the lineup as a catcher are the most in baseball history.
But some voters already have stated publicly that they will not vote for Piazza because of his association with the steroid era. Piazza has never been directly linked to performance-enhancing drugs, was not mentioned in the Mitchell Report, and is not known to have ever failed a drug test. But a cloud of suspicion could keep him out.
Other notable first-timers include Craig Biggio, who amassed 3,060 hits in a 20-year career with the Houston Astros. If not elected, Biggio — who starred as a catcher, second baseman and outfielder — would be the only eligible player with at least 3,000 hits (other than Palmeiro) to not make the Hall.
Curt Schilling, a standout pitcher for three World Series champions (2001 Arizona, 2004 and 2007 Boston) is also in his first year of eligibility. Schilling won 216 games for five teams in a 20-year career.
It may turn out that the sole player elected this year is pitcher Jack Morris, who fell 48 votes short of election in 2012. Morris went 254- 186 for four teams, mostly with Detroit, and pitched one of the greatest games in postseason history when he threw 10 shutout innings for Minnesota in a 1-0 victory against Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Morris was named World Series MVP.
Former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was the only player elected by the BBWAA last year. Morris finished second in the balloting, ahead of former Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell (56 percent) and longtime closer Lee Smith (50.6 percent). Both are still on the ballot.
Other holdovers include former New York Yankees stars Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams. In all, there are 37 players on the ballot, including 24 first-timers.
Baseball’s veterans committee already has posthumously inducted former Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, 19th-century player Deacon White and umpire Hank O’Day.
First-timers on the 2014 ballot will include Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas and Mike Mussina.