Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Sorry! No Vacancy!
Sorry! No Vacancy!
Last week the Baseball Writers
Association of America decided that they would not elect a single player into
the Hall of Fame. After all of the ballots were cast, and counted, Hall of Fame
President Jeff Idelson took the podium, opened the envelope, and announced,
“And the winner is? Nobody”.
Many of the writers have sent a clear
message to the baseball nation. They have indicated they will not tolerate
cheating. There are players who should have been inducted into the Hall, on
their baseball merits. But they failed to receive sufficient support from the
media. They allegedly took medication to enhance their performances. Then they
denied it.
These are slightly murky waters, as
the public has not seen all of the evidence regarding the names of the players
caught taking steroids. We do know that there is a long list, and we also know
that the drugs they took did enhance performance.
Players ballooned in size, and became
home run hitters overnight. Part of the problem lay with the teams, and the
administrators of the game. Some believe that shutting the barn door after all
the cows have escaped is not the solution to the problem.
I am rattled by the following: Bert
Blyleven was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. He was on the ballot for
14 years. On his second year on the ballot, he garnered only 14.1 percent of
the vote. Twelve years later he made the
grade.
Barry Bonds received 206 votes of the
569 votes cast, which is 36.2 %. Roger Clemens got 214 votes, registering 37.6
%. Sammy Sosa received 71 votes. Rafael Palmeiro was named 50 times.
Bonds and Clemens both registered
more than 30 % of the vote. Therefore, according to Blyleven’s results, they
may head into the Hall long before the 15 year mark is reached, when they would
no longer be eligible. Some believe that the culprits may get in next year,
that the writers chose not to include them for one year “as a lesson”.
That stinks. How in the world did
they each get that many votes? The reason is that there are many sports fans
and writers who do not care. According to their reasoning, we enter the world
of “So what, who cares?” They put up majestic numbers, they entertained, they
put bums in the seats. They were good for the game. Nonsense.
The League now plans to test for
human growth hormone, another drug to enhance performance this coming season.
It was on the test list during last season’s Spring Training. The League and
the Players’ association reached an agreement last Thursday to allow the
testing. As was reported in the Associated Press, the drug test results of all
players will be kept by the World Anti-Doping Agency in Laval, Quebec.
Christine Ayotte, the director of the Laval agency added that the addition of
random blood testing and a “longitudinal profiling program makes baseball’s
program second to none in detecting and deterring the use of synthetic human
growth hormone and testosterone”.
Commissioner Bud Selig stated, “This
is a proud and a great day for baseball. We will continue to be a leader in
this field and do what we have to do.”
Every player will be tested “at least
once”. Understandably, there will be players who will be caught cheating. There
is a bucket full of cash at the end of the rainbow. Many players feel that it
is worth the risk.
Many writers vote against the likes
of Bonds and Clemens because of their alleged use of the substances. Others are
upset by their constant denials of the usage. Still others do not appreciate
the arrogance that goes with the denials.
I cringe when I think of what the
Hall of Fame ballots might look like in the next few years. It does matter!
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:03 PM 
