USA TODAY International Edition
Hall of Fame class deserves its moment in sun
Tuesday will generate more debate, arguments, name-calling, verbal abuse and open hostility than any time on the baseball calendar.
The Hall of Fame announcement will be celebrated briefly, but people quickly will turn to blasting the voting results, attacking the baseball writers, demeaning the players and making sure everyone’s miserable.
That’s what Twitter and talk shows are for, right?
Come on, does it really matter whether closer Mariano Rivera will be the first player unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame?
Does anyone really care that designated hitter Edgar Martinez might have gotten a nice boost in his candidacy after Harold Baines was elected to the Hall of Fame last month by the Today’s Game Era Committee?
Is it unfair, or even cruel, for fans to speculate whether starter Roy Halladay would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer if not for his airplane crash a year ago?
Please, enough already. They are Hall of Famers.
Let’s take time to celebrate them before the find-and-destroy mission begins.
It doesn’t make a difference whether you’re a first-year ballot Hall of Famer like Rivera and likely Halladay, earn a spot in your final year of eligibility like Martinez, or get in on the veterans’ ballot like closer Lee Smith and Baines.
Together, they will be in the Hall of Fame, immortalized in history, and celebrated July 21 in Cooperstown, New York.
The Hall of Fame voting system, which was declared irrevocably broken six years ago when no one was elected, is thriving. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America will have elected a record 19 players in the last six years once Rivera, Martinez and likely Halladay are announced Tuesday, with starter Mike Mussina a candidate to make it a quartet.
It’s not perfect, but that’s what makes the Hall of Fame election so illustrious.
Sure, I still believe it’s asinine that Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens are being excluded, and I still believe that they’ll be voted into Cooperstown with three years of eligibility left.
They have been the first two names I’ve checked on my ballot every year without hesitation and I will continue to campaign for their candidacy.
Do I believe they played clean and never used performance-enhancing drugs? No.
Do I believe we’ve elected players who have used PEDs? Absolutely.
If we’re going to put some of the best players of the steroid era into the Hall of Fame, why not put in the absolute finest, and two of the greatest players in history in Bonds and Clemens?
There will be the argument that Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez belong, too.
Sorry. Not this vote.
The line of demarcation I’ve drawn is that steroids weren’t even illegal until Major League Baseball began drug testing in 2005. Baseball didn’t care. Didn’t want to care.
Bonds and Clemens never failed a drug test. Never were suspended a day for drug use. Never admitted to knowingly taking steroids, actually spending millions of dollars in the courtroom to prove their innocence.
It’s completely different for Ramirez and A-Rod, who becomes eligible in 2022. There were rules when they played, drug testing was in place, and so were punishments.
Ramirez, one of the greatest righthanded hitters, was suspended for 150 games in his career for drug use, once almost killing the Dodgers’ playoff hopes and the other with the Rays.
A-Rod received the longest drug suspension in baseball history when he missed the 2014 season with the Yankees. The Yankees went 84-78 without him and missed the playoffs.
The biggest victim in the steroid era on this Hall of Fame ballot is Fred McGriff. He had a magnificent career with 493 homers and 1,550 RBI. He had 184 more homers, 243 more hits, 289 more RBI and scored 130 more runs than Martinez. Yet, for some reason, six seasons of hitting 30 homers and driving in 100 runs weren’t enough since they routinely were dwarfed by the cartoonish numbers of the steroid era.
This is McGriff ’s final year on the ballot, and although he won’t be elected, he should be an overwhelming favorite three years from now when he’s eligible on the same committee that elected Baines and Smith.
There will be plenty of others screaming and asking why Larry Walker isn’t in the Hall of Fame as one of the most naturally gifted athletes to play the game. He has had a stunning rise in popularity, thanks largely to the analytic crowd pointing out his 72.7 career WAR and .313/.400/.565 slash line.
Yet this three-time batting champion and 1997 National League MVP also played more than 143 games just once and only once had a season with more than 175 hits. He produced 2,160 hits and played in 1,988 games, which would be the lowest totals of any right fielder elected.
Shortstop Omar Vizquel had a slash line of .272/.336/.352 yet won 11 Gold Gloves and had 2,877 hits. But he’ll be trashed for appearing on so many ballots, including mine. Do you realize the only players in history with at least 11 Gold Gloves and 2,800 hits are Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente?
Let the debate begin:
❚ Mussina won 270 games in the heart of the steroid era pitching his entire time in the American League East but never won a Cy Young.
❚ Curt Schilling was overshadowed by Hall of Fame teammates Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, but his postseason exploits are starting to be talked about more than his political views.
❚ Gary Sheffield used to be the most feared hitter in baseball, with 509 homers and 1,676 RBI, but is punished for being a workout partner with Bonds.
❚ Jeff Kent is perhaps the greatest power-hitting second baseman with his 377 homers and 1,518 RBI but is penalized for his defense.
❚ Andruw Jones might have been the greatest defensive center fielder since Mays but hit just .214 after turning 30.
❚ Scott Rolen was a fabulous third baseman with eight Gold Gloves and a .855 OPS, but 316 career homers and 1,287 RBI don’t resurrect memories of George Brett or Mike Schmidt.
❚ If McGriff hasn’t come close to election, how will Todd Helton, who had 124 fewer homers than McGriff despite playing his entire career at Coors Field?
The arguments and disputes will rage, and perhaps last until Bryce Harper and Manny Machado finally sign. But hopefully, Rivera and Martinez, and likely Halladay, too, can be celebrated.
It’s their day. It’s their time. It’s their moment.
Why tarnish it?