The Great Debate

Cooperstown’s class of 2013 might be one of the most interesting Hall of Fame classes in the history of sports. Not only are some of baseball’s greatest players over the past twenty years all on one ballot together, but the vote also includes a number of high profile players who were either accused or admitted to using performance enhancing drugs.

For the first time sports writers will get to vote on Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa.

Even though Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jeff Bagwell were all on the ballot last year, the addition of Bonds and Clemens make this the first real test of the steroid era.

Bonds was the best hitter of his generation (even before the alleged PED use) and has the home run record. Clemens was a power pitcher who earned seven Cy Young awards, racked up 300 wins, and had 4000 strikeouts. However, neither of them will probably get in on the first try and it doesn’t make sense. If the voters are supposed to compare eligible players to their peers in their era, how do you leave these two guys off?

The whole debate is stupid in my opinion. Major League Baseball turned a blind eye to steroid use in the 90’s due to the popularity of the sport and the national attention given to the home run race, now they want to punish a whole era of players because they didn’t take any action to stop it?
People need to remember what Cooperstown actually is…..it’s a museum of baseball history. How can you mention a whole decade of history and not include the players who were the biggest part of it? It’s like having a cycling museum without mentioning Lance Armstrong……oh that’s right, never mind.

So, I have a solution. If the Hall of Fame is going to be so critical about this era, they need to open up a Steroid Era wing in their Hall of Fame. Don’t hide the fact this era existed in the game, instead have a section acknowledging it. You can’t tell me that every player inducted into the Hall of Fame was clean, so why discredit these players?

By the way…this is the same Hall of Fame who inducted and celebrates players like Rogers Hornsby and Ty Cobb who were openly racist and supported segregation in baseball.

You can’t have a reputable museum without telling the complete history, tainted as it may be during certain periods.

This is why I believe Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson should also be in the Hall of Fame. The Pete Rose thing really bothers me. Here you have one of the greatest hitters of all time and he is banned from the ballot for something he did while he wasn’t playing the game? Also stupid, but I won’t start that debate right now.

I wish I had a vote, I would vote all six (Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGuire, Bagwell and Palmeiro) in, just so I could witness the most awkward induction ceremony of all time.

Are both Bonds and Clemens Hall of Famers? Absolutely! Will they eventually get in? I think so. Will the writers send a message the first year they are eligible? Probably.

NFL Week 13 Picks

I went 14-2 overall last week, 4-1 with my upset picks and 2-0 with my locks. Record: Overall (119-55), Upsets (19-15), Locks (18-3).
Game of the Week
New Orleans at Atlanta | Winner: Atlanta
Lock of the Week
Pittsburgh at Baltimore | Winner: Baltimore
Houston at Tennessee | Winner: Houston
Minnesota at Green Bay | Winner: Green Bay
Upset Special
Cleveland at Oakland | Winner: Oakland
NY Giants at Washington | Winner: Washington
Arizona at NY Jets | Winner: Arizona
The Rest
Philadelphia at Dallas | Winner: Dallas
Cincinnati at San Diego | Winner: Cincinnati
Tampa Bay at Denver | Winner: Denver
New England at Miami | Winner: New England
San Francisco at St. Louis | Winner: San Francisco
Carolina at Kansas City | Winner: Carolina
Indianapolis at Detroit | Winner: Detroit
Seattle at Chicago | Winner: Chicago
Jacksonville at Buffalo | Winner: Buffalo

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