The 600 baseball writers who vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame have shown their true colors. They are a group of self-righteous and sanctimonious punks. Not voting Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds into Cooperstown diminishes the value of that museum, leaves out significant parts of baseball history and makes other deserving players unnecessary collateral damage. The voting process is a farce and needs to change.
The baseball writers are the only Hall of Fame voters instructed to consider character and moral fiber when casting their ballots. But who in the hell are they to judge anyone's character or life? Make no mistake, the time will come when each and every one of us faces that very judgment. But it is not here. And certainly not by a group of arrogant baseball writers. But riddle me this, if character and moral fiber are so important, why is there a racist, antisemitic alcoholic and beer guzzling womanizer in Cooperstown? Just curious.
Barry Bonds is baseball's all-time homeruns leader with 762. Say what you want about how he got there, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or not, it's in the record books. It's fact. Bonds also owns the single-season homerun record with 73. He is third all-time in runs batted in (RBIs) with 1996, second in extra-base hits (1440), first in intentional base-on-balls (688), finished his career with a .298 batting average and also stole 514 bases. He won seven Most Valuable Player awards, eight Gold Gloves and was voted to the all-star team 14 times. Are not those Hall of Fame numbers?
Roger Clemens is one of this generation's greatest and most electrifying pitchers. Clemens, aka "The Rocket", finished his career ninth on the all-time wins list with 354, third all-time in strikeouts (4672) and had a career earned-run average of 3.12. He compiled seven Cy Young awards, one MVP award and was named an all-star 11 times. Like Bonds, Clemens has Hall of Fame numbers.
Both Clemens and Bonds have come under attack for alleged use of PED's during their career. The allegations came during a time when baseball had no mandatory drug testing and therefore there is nothing but speculation to use as the basis for any judgment of how their statistics and accomplishments were achieved.
I mentioned earlier other players have and will become collateral damage because of Bonds and Clemens. Let me give you one very good example: Mike Piazza. Never once has his name been associated with and PEDs. It appears everything he accomplished he did through hard work and talent. Among catchers, he is the all-time leader in homeruns (427), racked up 1335 RBIs, 2127 hits and a career batting average of .308. He was National League Rookie of the Year and a 12-time all-star. Not bad for a 62nd round pick drafted as a favor to then manager Tommy Lasorda. Piazza has numbers worthy of Cooperstown based on the position he played and the numbers he put up. He received just over 50% of the vote in 2013. To make it to Cooperstown a percentage of 75% is needed. Piazza is looked at with caution because he played during the "steroid era". Just another example of how wrong the voting is for enshrinement into Cooperstown.
The truth is, Bonds and Clemens but butts in the seats in every stadium across America. I paid to see Clemens pitch against the Pirates when he was a member of the Houston Astros. Barry's chase for 70 homeruns and then the run to 756 brought baseball fans of all ages together, regardless of whether they were cheering for or against Bonds. They are part of baseball history, legend and lore. Keeping them out of the Hall of Fame is telling an incomplete version of the history of America's Pastime. The baseball writers need to get over themselves and vote for what's best for baseball, and that is enshrining Barry Lamarr Bonds and William Roger Clemens into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
