Who the hell are these Hall of Fame (HoF) voters that say their childhood heroes have more of a right to be in the Hall of Fame (HoF) than my heroes? I have been meaning to write about this for awhile, and today I'm finally going to get my thoughts down on the subject.
For those of you who don't know, players are currently inducted into the HoF through election by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). (Veterans Committee too, but that is neither here nor there). Being inducted into the BBWAA is fairly arbitrary, and is for established sports writers. In order to vote for the HoF, you must be a member of this organization for ten years. So basically, no one under 35 years old votes for the HoF, with probably the bulk of voters 50+.
The heart of this controversey is whether or not players who have been linked to steroid use should be admitted into the HoF. Voters initially ruled in on this by striking down Mark McGwire's induction a couple of years ago. Now I understand that other than maybe Jose Conseco and Barry Bonds, McGwire is the worst offender of them all. But how do you differentiate between players? There just isn't enough proof out there to start putting the scarlett letter on these guys (unless you were actually suspended by MLB, which is another story).
So these crusty old writers don't like that the guys I grew up watching have shattered the records of the guys they grew up watching. It is a bunch of jealous kids on the playground. They say that by inducting these steroid-tainted players, we will be destroying the sanctity of baseball statistics and records.
The sanctity of the records? Well who is looking at baseball records that doesn't know about the history of the game? If you are looking up who is 7th on the all time RBI list at 3pm on a Wednesday (don't ask), I think you probably know a bit about baseball. And if you know anything about the game, ANYTHING, you know which players played during the steroid era and that you need to view them with a bit of skepticism.
Guess what? Players have lied and cheated in the past (pine tar, scuffing, throwing games), just using different methods. A generation of white players never had to face black players, diluting the quality of play. The equipment has changed over the years. We still elect guys that played in these distinct eras into the HoF. It is part of history, and people know that you need to view the numbers in the perspective of the time in which they were generated. Just look at the dead ball era! Think of the steroid era is the opposite of the dead ball era, and it makes sense.
The point is, anyone who cares about these records understands that what happened was a part of baseball history. We can't pretend that it didn't happen, because it did, and it was wrong, and tremendous strides are being taken to prevent it from happening again. But it is history, and to turn your back on it is sickening.
These guys played. I know, because I was there- Bonds, Sosa, Maddux, Bagwell, Piazza, Clemens, McGwire, Pedro, Thome. They played with heart, and watching them has shaped my life. I used my allowance to buy baseball cards. My family used money to take me to games. Baseball as a business boomed during the steroid era for these reasons. The league wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for the revenue that the home run chases generated. Hey Bud, give me back my revenues and then you can pretend like none of this ever happened.
My generation is the future of baseball. Not these old writers who are deciding which memories need to be celebrated and which need to be stricken from the record book. I am one of the biggest fans of the game I know, and I will not be visiting the HoF if the players I grew up watching aren't there. If they don't go, I don't go. Call it a protest, a boycott, whatever. I'm not going until this is made right.
No comments:
Post a Comment