Marin Independent Journal

HOF STRIKES OUT, GIANTS FANS WAIT

Hall of Fame is an embarrassm­ent without Bonds & Co.

- Dieter Kurtenbach

If the Baseball Hall of Fame no longer wants to recognize the best players in the history of the game, then we no longer have to recognize it as the ultimate shrine to the sport.

On Tuesday, arguably the greatest hitter in the history of the game, Barry Bonds, was denied entry — again — on moral grounds. Roger Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers in the game, received the same fate. Meanwhile, another unquestion­ably great pitcher, Curt Schilling, missed out because of his political beliefs and bigoted comments.

And I’m wondering why they were excluded.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is filled with cheaters, bigots, scoundrels, and folks who used performanc­e-enhancing drugs — both the early-day stuff and the real good stuff of recent years.

Yes, there are some men of exceptiona­lly high character in the hall, but to believe that Cooperstow­n is exclusivel­y filled with such people is beyond naive — it’s willful ignorance.

Bond, Clemens, and Schilling would fit right in with this lot.

After all, they were exceptiona­l baseball players. I thought recognizin­g such titans in the

industry — flaws and all — is why the Hall of Fame was built.

The Hall of Fame’s selfappoin­ted mission is — and this is directly from its website — “to preserve the sport’s history, honor excellence within the game, and make a connection between the generation­s of people who enjoy baseball.”

Were Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling not unquestion­ably excellent, even if the first two’s means weren’t necessaril­y scrupulous and the latter has been anything but excellent since retirement?

The last time I checked, Bonds had a career so prolific he would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer without the specter of performanc­e-enhancing drugs on his record. The same with Clemens.

Schilling is unquestion­ably an all-time great, too.

Many point to the “character clause” on the Hall of Fame ballot as the reason to not include these three. Apparently, voters need to take into account “integrity, sportsmans­hip and character” for each player.

That’s a nice thought. The problem is that character seems to be more heavily weighted for some players and not others.

Mariano Rivera’s unsavory far-right political beliefs weren’t a problem for him when he received 100 percent of the vote. There’s no doubt Schilling is less couth, but why is he held to a different standard than the only man in the history of the Hall of Fame to receive a unanimous vote?

Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, and Ivan Rodriguez are all in the Hall and are all suspected of using performanc­e-enhancing drugs. That’s only to name a few. Was it proven they took

them? No more than it was proven that Bonds and Clemens did.

The difference is that Bonds and Clemens were ensnared in federal probes. Both players claimed that they never willingly took PEDs. After long legal processes, neither has a conviction on their record.

Do I believe both of them took performanc­e-enhancing drugs? Of course. But why would they still be held to higher scrutiny than folks already in the Hall of Fame?

The cognitive dissonance is startling.

There’s only one explanatio­n for it, and it’s not a flattering one:

This is personal for too many of the 400-or-so baseball writers with ballots.

No one debates the numbers or the impact of Bonds, Clemens, or Schilling. No, their exclusion is about writers who are trying to maintain a final shred of self-importance in a sport that’s fading fast. They’re big-timing the biggest names, under the guise that it makes them bigger; that it accomplish­es something worthwhile.

It doesn’t. It’s just petty and small.

Don’t like Schilling or what he says? Get in line.

No one enjoys the concept of performanc­e-enhancing drugs, either. But it wasn’t until this century that Major League Baseball actually wrote a rule against them. Meanwhile, the commission­er who turned a blind eye to the rampant PED use — and probably some of the players who took advantage of the moment — are enshrined.

Maybe Bonds, Schilling, and Clemens receive the votes next year, their final turn on the ballot. This year, Bonds and Clemens are at 61 percent of the vote — you need 75 percent to be enshrined. Schilling needs 16 more votes. Those writers who are trying to prove a point (about what, exactly, I don’t know) will have made all three sweat for as long as they could. The pettiness will end and they’ll finally deliver the trio to their rightful places along with the other legends of the game and Harold Baines.

But I’m not banking on that, because this operation should not have gone on for this long in the first place.

And so long as nothing changes — so long as pettiness is deemed more important than play — the Baseball Hall of Fame will be an embarrassm­ent.

 ?? MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were among the closest in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Associatio­n of America released Tuesday, and the trio will have one more chance at election next year.
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were among the closest in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Associatio­n of America released Tuesday, and the trio will have one more chance at election next year.
 ?? KATHY WILLENS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? With the Red Sox’s Curt Schilling Schilling’s candidacy now front and center — and the Giants’ Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still on the ballot as well — voters have had to consider how much a player’s off-field behavior should affect his Hall of Fame chances.
KATHY WILLENS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE With the Red Sox’s Curt Schilling Schilling’s candidacy now front and center — and the Giants’ Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still on the ballot as well — voters have had to consider how much a player’s off-field behavior should affect his Hall of Fame chances.
 ??  ??
 ?? JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61.6%) joined Curt Schilling in falling short on their ninth tries on the Hall of Fame ballot.
JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Barry Bonds (61.8%) and Roger Clemens (61.6%) joined Curt Schilling in falling short on their ninth tries on the Hall of Fame ballot.

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