MLB Hall of Fame and the steroids era

Fryingpan Sports

MLB Hall of Fame and the steroids era

TT

Bobby Bonds

By Bill Smith

Technorati Tags: Baseball, MLB, Bonds, steroids, Baseball Hall of Fame, Football, basketball, NFL, TESTING

A lot of old timers are going to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame over the next few years. That is not necessarily because the older players are more deserving than they used to be. For the most part, they have done very little to enhance or hurt their chances since they left the game. The problem is that the HOF voters are obviously unclear about which of the drug era players has or has not taken steroids.

Given the most recent events with the perjury case against Bobby Bonds, even that case has degenerated into one of who knew what and when did they know it. Now according to the New York Times, the government has discovered a urine sample from Bonds from 1983 that shows performance enhancing drugs. Any case that depends on urine from 1983 smells pretty rancid by 2009. The he said she said is never going to accomplish the goal of getting the support of the fans. It is also not doing anything to stop the use of steroids.

One problem facing baseball and all other sports is that the cheaters are always one or two steps ahead of the tests. Between masking agents, development of new undetectable drugs, and the Whizzinator, it is not logical to believe that any safeguards will eliminate the problem.

It’s hard to put someone in the HOF that is also in prison for using or distributing illegal substances. It is not a coincidence that the years of 80+ home runs went the way of proof of global warming—lost in a deep freeze right after the Congress and the league started looking seriously into the issue of steroids.

The free agent market is a little weaker than in past years and it is not only because of the economic downturn. It also is that teams are more comfortable giving big money to younger players that have hopefully not been tainted by the steroids era. There is a lot of risk in a long term deal with an older player that may be experiencing the effects of steroid withdrawal.

We know that gambling is on the list of things that keep players out of the Hall. The War of the Pete Roses makes that clear. Based on the last HOF results this year, it seems that the voters are steering clear of the cream, the clear (please forgive the pun), and all the other forms of the regress through chemistry has brought to the game. There may be a way to make those decisions taking steroids into the process.

There were some players that were clearly on the sauce. No baseball player gains 50 pounds of pure muscle in one off season without more than a little chemical help. As John Kruk once told a reporter “We’re not athletes. We’re baseball players!”

The solution I prefer is that those that were proven to have taken steroids should be banned from the Hall all together. But those that are suspected could be handled another way.

The numbers from the age of steroids should be totally ignored. The only way a guy that played in the steroids era and is suspected of use (no, Mr. Bonds, we know you were on the juice) should get to the promise land of induction to the Hall is if his play before the S era was strong enough to get him in. Otherwise, keep him out.

This policy accomplishes a couple of things. First, it eliminates the issue of trying to write down or adjust the numbers from the S era. There is no way to do that effectively. Eliminating the numbers from the steroid era from consideration makes decisions not only easier but more fair.

Second, it eliminates any good or bad lingering influence of using the drugs that affects play once the players go off the juice. Science doesn’t agree on what the after affects are from taking the drug or withdrawal from them might be. This policy will eliminate that issue.

Third, it gives the older players a better chance to get in because there are so many that deserve it. With a large number of current and recently retired players suspected of use being taken out of the race, the number of openings will increase for deserving older players.

And last, it rewards those players that did not use steroids, particularly those pitchers that had to face the monsters that the drugs created. The elimination of the suspected users will open spots for the non-users.

So voters, give that a try. It should improve the decision making process of the voters. And if for providing this plan, the Hall would like to give me a vote, I would gratefully accept it. Don’t worry about that. It’s going to happen any time soon.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for NFLDraftDog.com and edits fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and edits .

No votes yet.
Please wait...

7 thoughts on “MLB Hall of Fame and the steroids era”

  1. Baseball failed to police steroid use during the time you are looking to ignore the results. I can’t blame players for a failure on the sport’s part.

    2008 Taxes’s last blog post..TaxBrain Offers Free Tax Advice

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  2. Its sad because Barry Bonds before steroids was an incredible 40/40 player.. and now he has lost all respect from every single player and fan

    http://fantasybaseballpro.blogspot.com/’s last blog post..My Target Catcher

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  3. I don’t blame the players.. but they can’t expect people to take their records seriously, when they’ve been on drugs.

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  4. I don’t think we can completely ignore the numbers from the “steroid era.” It gives a little too much credit to the ‘roids. I agree with the previous comment–it was the league’s fault for not testing.

    I find a great deal of hypocrisy in the way we’ve handled the issue of steroids and sports.

    StrongandFit’s last blog post..This Week’s Health News 2/4/09

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  5. Now Alex Rodriguez is found to have used steroids in his MVP season. Hard to believe that it took so long to come out and he lied about it in 2007 to the press.

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  6. A-Rod is a cheater and should not be allowed in the HOF.

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...
  7. steroids era is good.I like also steroids Houston is great place for baseball. The Houston Astros are a professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball’s National League.Astros tickets

    No votes yet.
    Please wait...

Comments are closed.