The guy was implicated and caught using PEDs in The Mitchell Report. If they’re going to let one known cheater in the Hall then they might as well open the doors for all the cheaters. pete rose, shoeless joe, clemens, a-rod, bonds, sosa… come on down!!!
ortiz is a favorite of sportswriters and got a pass.
The cheater has no business in the hall.
At least Bonds and Clemens were not included.
There’s no reason to exclude them now. I wondered if ortiz was gonna be the test-subject for redeeming the others and there he is, now on to the committee selections for the other cheaters.
They’ll probably eventually put manny ramirez in now.
And I say all this as someone who
a) enjoyed watching those guys do what they did,
b) agreed that they weren’t breaking any rules at the time
c) knows the history of clubhouses loaded up with pills for players dating back decades
If you ban one, ban them all.
I’m still waiting for Donnie Baseball to make it into the HOF.
This is the part I struggle with. They weren’t breaking the rules, and everyone was doing it, including the pitchers. I say let them all in.
I agree with you. Is it about what you did on the field, or a popularity contest?
Some of these players would have made the HOF regardless of steroids. Bonds and Clemens. Why are they keeping Curt Schilling and Pete Rose out? They aren’t steroid players. They are better than many players currently in the HOF. Who are we kidding here? Do we think everyone in the Hall are model citizens?
Schilling’s request to be removed from the ballot sealed his fate this year.
Rose did it to himself agreeing to a plea deal instead of manning up he bet on baseball games including some on the very team he was managing at the time.
I on the other hand believe there were at least a select few who did not cheat in this fashion. Derek Jeter and Mo Rivera for example come to mind…
I am aware of what Schilling did. Because he’s sick of it. He’s not getting in whether he did that or not. As far as Rose goes, who cares? I’ll be honest, I never liked the guy. I think he’s a jackass! But he’s a hall of famer.
Steroids have never been an issue for me in physical competition. I watch athletes to watch athletics at the highest physical potential.
Rose made his own bed. Now he must sleep in it probably for eternity. Reference Shoeless Joe Jackson.
For sure, “everyone” was hyperbole on my part. Many players played clean, but many did not, including many we don’t know about.
From what I heard, and I don’t know this for sure, Shoeless Joe took the money but didn’t comply. If I took the money to slash someone’s tires and I don’t do it, am I still guilty of slashing the tires?
Not of slashing the tire but maybe a crime to being an accomplice in the caper could get you in some trouble. Any way’s taking a bribe and then pretending to look the other way is ethically wrong and Shoeless Joe paid a steep price for his indiscretion at the time.
Sorry, but that’s just not analogous.
Usually the person doing the paying is the one that gets in trouble before the deed is done. But I know. Once he took the money it was over. I just found it funny that he didn’t go through with it.
It isn’t? I found a similarity in two different things. They were both paid to do something.
No. Shoeless Joe was part of a larger conspiracy to throw the World Series. People point to his batting statistics during the series and say “how could he have thrown the World Series when he was batting like that?” There is no film of those games and we don’t know what else he did or didn’t do on the defensive side.
Also, he was most likely aware that others were doing the same and the net result was that the White Sox threw and lost the World Series with or without his tanking at the plate.
Unless there were other people getting paid to slash those hypothetical tires that you mentioned…The two scenarios just don’t match up.
Oh good Lord. You’re bringing a lot of extra stuff into the equation. But I agree you make an excellent point.
