For only the 8th time ever, no players received the 75% of the votes necessary to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Bonds got 36.2% of the vote, Clemens got 37.6% of the vote, and Sosa got 12.5% of the vote. McGwire and Palmeiro each got less than 20% of the vote. Other players less linked to PEDs did better: Biggio 68.2%, Bagwell 59.6%, Piazza 57.8%, Raines 52.2%. Jack Morris got 67.7%, and has one more year of eligibility. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/s...-elected-to-baseball-hall-of-fame.html?emc=na
I'm surprised Bagwell got that many votes... close enough to make you think in the future he could get in. He was always a big guy even going to his days in the Red Sox organization. I was hoping to see Biggio, Piazza and McGriff get some more votes but I thik eventually all 3 will get in. The others I'm not so sure about.
If they want to continue with their pompous ways then the writers can never vote for anybody that played in 2003 as there are still 99 or 100 people on that list of 103 that have not been named.
How does this precedent affect the future? How do you know when the "PED era" ended? How do you separate people linked to the era from the usage? Everyone will know the players' history and the era baseball was in. I would just have the writers vote on performance and their career numbers. Nobody is going to forget Barry Bonds suspected PED use or Clemens or etc.
While some voters made a statement, I don't think any player deserved to get into the Hall this year. Biggio and Piazza were good but not first ballot HOF good, and Bagwell should get in eventually but it'll take a few years.
Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Biggio, Piazza...no HOFers here! It appears that, for Piazza, you are guilty until proven innocent.
The guy is arguably the greatest power hitting catcher of the last 50 years. He is 1st ballot good. I always hated these prics who feel a guy shouldn't get in on the 1st ballot. His stats don't change. He's either good enough to get in or he isn't.
Not counting baseless steroid speculation, yes. I do however acknowledge / agree with the notion of abstention given uncertainty, which IMO is at least justifiable for the player's first year of eligibility given the HOF's irreversible and long process.
A lot of bullshit. If you are going to keep guys out because of their era, you have a lot of guys to remove. Walter Johnson? He's 12th all time in ERA, but if you discount his stats from the deadball era, he's somewhere around 350th. He's out. Babe Ruth? He didn't have to face the best competition because he played in a segregated era. Ineligible. Clemens, Bonds, and Piazza are all first ballot guys, and it's a travesty that they didn't get in.
Jack Morris deserves to get in. He has a bunch of good stats, won 3 rings on three different teams, and was one of the biggest big game pitchers ever! Let the steroid users in to the hall, it would make a great exhibit in Cooperstown! Sure they enhanced their play chemically,hell so did Ruth! He drank enough and ate enough food by the looks of him he was way too enhanced as well!
Consider this...... This is the same group of writers, that ate up McGuires provably false claim, that he put 30 pounds of muscle on, using Andro, when an ounce of investigative journalism, would have found the claim laughable.
How about removing the baseball writers, that didn't challenge McGuires assertion that he only used Andro?
I think there is a book coming out about Piazza this year. I think the writers are waiting to see what is in it.
I agree, it's just bullshit. To say Clemens and even that asshole Bonds are not HOFERS is just bullshit. PEDS or no PEDS, they were still great players. As for Biggio, Bagwell and Piazza, I have no doubts they will get in. They are not first ballet HOFers though.
Pete Rose is not in Nor Joe Jackson Nor Gil Hodges Yet Bill Mazeroski and Richie Ashburn-two JAGs are The Hall of Sham
doesn't take away from the fact he was one of the greatest players of all time. So by definition he should be elected into the hall of fame. he bet on baseball as a manager, so he should not go in as a manager. If I recall correctly, he never bet on baseball as a player. Now I have a different view on these things(black sox, betting, peds). Yeah maybe these people are scumbags and did shitty things, but it should never cloud there accomplishments and the fact they were great players.
