Re-Writing History

By: Mike Rifkin

On Tuesday the Baseball writers association of America elected one player into the 2022 Hall Of Fame class. That player is former Red Sox DH David Ortiz who was in his first year of eligibility and received 77.9 percent of the vote. Ortiz, a three time World Series Champion, World Series MVP, and ALCS MVP hit 541 homeruns in his career and was one of the most clutch players of his era. Ortiz was associated with PED usage but never tested positive for any substance. Do I think Ortiz is a Hall of Famer? Yes there is no doubt in my mind that Ortiz belongs in the Hall of Fame. 

The other big story that came from Tuesday’s announcement is that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were NOT elected into the hall by the voters in their final year of eligibility. In 2014 the hall changed the process of a player being on a ballot from 15 years to 10, if 15 was still the number I do believe Bonds and Clemens would be in the hall of fame. Bonds, the all-time home run record holder, was also a seven time MVP, 14 time All Star, eight time gold glove winner, 12 time Silver Slugger and a two time batting champion for the Pirates and Giants. Bonds was the most feared hitter of his era. Bonds in his final year collected 66 percent of the vote.

Roger Clemens was a former MVP, seven time CY- Young award winner, 11 time all star, seven time ERA leader, and two time World Series Champion who won 354 games and had a career ERA of 3.12. Clemens also won the pitching triple crown twice. The pitching triple crown is leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.  In his final year Clemens collected 65.2 percent.

The baseball Hall of Fame is a museum of the history of the game. Voting is a privilege for the Hall but if you are going to vote for one individual associated with steroids you should put them all in with the asterisk we believe these guys used. But if they never failed a test how could you do that? One of the biggest blunders in the hall as we talk about steroid era players being in the hall or not is the fact that the man who oversaw baseball at the time Bud Selig is in the hall of fame. Now if he knew this was happening under his nose and he did nothing to stop it but he gets rewarded is very confusing. In his first year on the ballot Alex Rodriguez collected 34.3 percent of the vote it will be interesting how far he moves up. Because if Rodriguez gets in then there should be an uproar over Bonds and Clemens. The Hall of Fame is a place of history and whether Baseball likes it or not the steroid era is a part of baseball history so either all associated go in or nobody should go in.