Do 'Steroid Era' Baseball Players Deserve to be in Hall of Fame?
Do Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?
Jeff Cirillo, a popular and productive Major Leaguer for 14 years, is second in Milwaukee Brewers franchise history with a .307 batting average, trailing only Ryan Braun’s career mark of .313.
Exactly 1,000 of his 1,598 career hits came with the Brewers and he's among the franchise's top 10 in doubles.
Yet Cirillo, in his first year of eligibility, fell short of gaining enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And by short, we mean way short. As in, he didn’t receive a vote, and like 15 others on the ballot this year, did not get enough support from the Baseball Writers of Association of America to remain on the ballot in 2014.
Or course Cirillo’s votes, or lack thereof, are not what people are talking about today. No one, not baseball’s all-time home run king Barry Bonds nor seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, received the required amount of votes to join the elite of the game as membes of the Class of 2013.
The voting is a strong indication of how the 569 writers who turned in a ballot feel about players from the Steroids Era as performance-enhancing drug speculation or allegations no doubt played a role in the likes of Bonds, Clemens and Sammy Sosa being left off hundreds of ballots this time around.
Despite never being linked to PED use, longtime Houston Astros star Craig Biggio, who played his entire career with one team and excelled at three different positions, became one of just three players with more than 3,000 career hits not to be enshrined, while the others — Pete Rose (ineligible) and Rafael Palmeiro (positive drug suspension during his career) — have extenuating circumstances.
Voters will continue to debate the merits of the likes of Bonds and Clemens for as long as both remain on the ballot. But some felt they were passed over in 2013 in error, including Michael Weiner, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, in an interview with mlb.com:
"To penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings -- and others never even implicated -- is simply unfair. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best players to have ever played the game. Several such players were denied access to the Hall today. Hopefully this will be rectified by future voting."
The 2014 class will include ace pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, considered by some to be locks, along with longtime stars Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent.
What do you think? Do Bonds and Clemens deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Or is the belief they cheated enough to keep them out forever? And who isn’t in the Hall of Fame now that you think should be?
Mike Itzenhuiser
4:49 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Do I deserve to be known as the best poker player in the world because I can read cards?
Tansandy
5:01 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Sure, why not. The NFL put some of the biggest coke addicts in their hall of fame.
Ted
7:06 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
And also some of the biggest Pepsi addicts.
Carl Engelking
5:13 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame before the steroids generation starts getting inducted. I mean, sooner or later they're going to run out of players to induct because the voters are a bunch of dusty baseball purists.
Caledonia Retiree
6:52 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Well, Pete Rose got bounced because of his gambling-not his ability. The current crop of drug-induced athletes (including, of course, Mr. Armstrong) did not play fair against their teammates so I guess the real question is what exactly the criteria is for being inducted. If it's athletic performance (without drug help) I agree with you about Pete Rose.
Fire Fly
7:43 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
You know how much I hate to disagree with you Carl but Charlie Hustle will never be in the HOF as long as Bud's alive . Pete was the guy who took Bud Harrelson out @ 2nd base and took out a catcher Ray Fosse in a all star game . Sorry to say Ross will never see the inside the coop and you can bet on that.
Bob McBride
5:32 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Unfortunately, they set a standard with Rose that makes it almost impossible for them to put anyone else in with a questionable history.
As a side note, I think in order to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you have to have tested positive for some sort of illicit substance...
Caledonia Retiree
6:54 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Well, you know the old "rock and roll shout": SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL!!!
Jimmy Neutron
7:48 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
You don't have to sing Rock and Roll either.
Jrock
7:02 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Bonds and Clemens didn't break any rules, therefore, without question should be in. Were they right in what they did? Probably not, but Ty Cobb was a super racist, and Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, and Mickey Mantle were well known womanizers and alcoholics...but hey, boys will be boys.
Rose should also be in, no question...yes, he bet on baseball, and his team...but he only bet on the Reds to win, and as the Manager, it's his job to win games, so what's the problem?
sparky
1:07 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
In his day I don't think Ty Cobb would have been accused of being a super racist, being a southern boy the way he acted was probably normal for the times. I would like to see shoeless Joe Jackson get in some day and then allow Pete Rose in.
WPN1488
7:21 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Yes, I'm 100% for performance enhancing drugs in ALL sports. I want professional athletes to be like the players in 1970's movie 'Rollerball'. I want the old Roman Coliseum type games, heck...I wish we had The Hunger Games in America right now with one exception no child players, use over 18 radical eastside Progressives instead. Let's get these players jack up! I want home runs, 100 yard TD returns, DBack's putting people on stretchers, basketball backboards crushed, hard fouls, skaters launched over the boards! America is becoming a land of wishy-washy Visual and Performing Artist, Human Rights Activist, Arts Educator, Non-aligned Observer types i.e. PU*SIES. Let's get mean again America, and it starts with allowing steroid use. Hey, we might have beaten Wauakee last fall.
Steve ®
12:19 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Brilliant. I like you
Susan Diaz
5:09 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Another self-important writer making the vote about himself instead of the players. schoolanduniversity You don't deserve a vote.
Craig Manske
9:02 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
If it's alright for a dude with bionic legs to run in the Olympics, then I have no problem with performance enhancing drugs in any sport. Whether the advantage is chemical or mechanical, is there a difference?
jim
11:03 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
We should induct their pharmacists
Anthony Domitrz
11:53 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Just because the players are from that era, should not make them automatically out of the MLB Hall of Fame. Only the players that used and have been guilty of using drugs should not be allowed into the Hall of Fame. They should not be allowed because they cheated and that would influence other people to use drugs if you can still get into the Hall of Fame.