Your Hall of Fame Vote, Post-Mitchell

Amen.

 

if he were good enough, sure. but he wasn't. next.

 

My acid test (and many others) would be this ... to what degree did steroids make them a HOFer?

If, in the case of Bonds and Clemens, there's a clear delineation between roid and pre-roid use, and a HOF case could be made for the pre-roid era, I'd deny them their first-ballot shot as a protest because of its symbolic value, but probably eventually vote them in.

If, in the case of McGwire or Sosa (not named, but widely suspected), a HOF case would be difficult to make taking into account their roid use, they don't get a vote.

That's how I'd do it.

 

I can see the argument for banning anybody who failed a test, though I'm not sure if I agree or not.

But being named in this report is not enough. For some of the people listed, the evidence just isn't solid enough.

 

I think the voters will take care of this in their own way. Maybe by not voting those named in the report in their first or second years of eligibility. It's a very murky question.

 

The confirmed abusers, don't make them eligible for 15 years, instead of 5. That extra 10-year span will be an agonizing punishment for them. If they are still alive after 15 years, then let them be on the ballot. If they're not alive, well, then who cares.

 

Bonds and Clemens belong in the Hall, no questions.

 

Kurkjian just made a good point on ESPN --- days like this are why the 5-year waiting period exists. We'll probably know a lot more about Bonds and/or Clemens and their involvement with steroids, one way or the other, in five years than we know now.

 

If Dale Murphy were getting any, Jim Rice better be on that list for guys who should get into the HOF now.

 

Does Rice really get no love because he's considered good-but-not-good-enough or because he's a horse's ass?

 

keep the steroids/HGH users out. They were legal in baseball, but illegal in general society. That makes the users of those substances of poor character. If I'm not mistaken good character is one of the criteria for the Hall.