Comments on: MLB issues a statement on the BBWAA’s failure to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame

By: millybo

millybo — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:42:25 +0000

The loser clearly is the HOF. There is clearly a problem which exist which no one has really sat down to consider in a practical and intelligent manner. The first point for consideration is that for a long time certain PEDS were not illegal with respect to baseball. Everyone including the Commissioner knew they were being used by some players but took no immediate steps to make them illegal. So what you have is a number of players who ostensibly enhanced their stats while on PEDS which at that time was not illegal. As such these stats cannot now be interfered with. So then we come to the HOF where players have for many years primarily been judged on their stats. The voters are now seeking to “rectify” the problem by claiming that morality is a now very important factor. Problem is many immoral persons have already been allowed into the Hall. We are calling persons cheaters who have done nothing which was illegal in baseball at that time. The additional problem is that we are still not clear as to what effect PEDS have on players other than adding strength and enabling a speedier healing process. We need to approach this matter rationally and intelligently and stop calling people “scum ” and other derogatory names when there is no evidence that they broke any rules of baseball by doing something which should have been illegal but MLB in its various variants chose not to make illegal until the problem was endemic and irreversible. The HALL has now lost its value as some of the best players that we have ever seen are being left out and others who are clearly inferior to them are being inducted. In my view Gossage could take steroids for breakfast lunch and dinner and he would still not be on par with a steroid free Clemens. ( and i don’t even like Clemens). So lets discuss intelligently this problem before baseball itself becomes irrelevant.

By: comish4lif

comish4lif — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:48:05 +0000

Pete Rose “technically” admitted his guilt. I’ll give you that.

But how did Pete admit his guilt? Well, he waited 10+ years, then when he needed money, wrote a book and released it the day before the BBHOF ballots were announced. Pete’s an ass.

Read the Dowd Report.
http://seanlahman.com/files/rose/dowd/dowd_viib1.html

By: protius

protius — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:23:31 +0000

Don’t sugar it. What do you really think?

By: millybo

millybo — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:06:57 +0000

I would hope that Bud would never be allowed to enter the Hall Of Fame in any capacity after all he was the steroid Commissioner and baseball owner. He makes me sick!

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:37:30 +0000

Maybe something like the Greatest Hitting Catcher (if all time periods are equal, which they arent”) was one of the worse defending catchers and the hall of fame doesnt just vote in offense.

By: sportsfan69

sportsfan69 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 03:31:56 +0000

it’s unfortunate, check out TLC on Sunday night at 10 PM. Pete Rose has a reality show. It looks good.

By: raysfan1

raysfan1 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:44:47 +0000

Glavine and Maddux made commercials in which they repeatedly said “Chicks dig the long ball.” Even if they did not use steroids, they clearly condoned it. No HoF for them. (Sarcasm, but it will surprise me not at all if some jerk actually uses this sort of reasoning against them next year. I already read one columnist this year who stated that anyone coming up for HoF eligibility has to prove their innocence before he will vote for him–which is not only being a pompous ass, it’s also demanding the impossible.)

By: raysfan1

raysfan1 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:20:09 +0000

The HoF is first and foremost a museum, a privately funded one. Besides the bronze plaques, it is the main repository of the 160 year history of the game. It preserves and restores artifacts and maintains archives for research. That, and the security to protect it, cost big $. The main source of that money is visitors, and the most important time of year for them is induction week. No inductees means far less income, which in turn hurts the museum in its efforts to preserve the artifacts, etc.

It also totally sucks for local businesses in Cooperstown.

Ultimately, a small hall could mean no hall. That would be tragic.

By: thebigtim2012

thebigtim2012 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:49:25 +0000

The entire hall of fame process is a joke and only boycotting Cooperstown will get anything changed

By: sportsfan69

sportsfan69 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:46:43 +0000

How about Mr. Baseball, Pete Rose? He’s admitted his mistake. I thought we were a merciful society?

Are we not civilized as a society? Put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.

By: thesmedman

thesmedman — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:45:41 +0000

Wait a minute. In the R&RHOF, it’s a practical requirement to have done some substance. In the white room, with black curtains….

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:12:55 +0000

Yeah. Look at all the people in that one who did drugs. Then again, how would most of those guys sounded if they had been straight?

By: pooinyourface

pooinyourface — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:12:15 +0000

almost as comical as the rock n roll hall of fame

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:00:30 +0000

You’re only hurting yourself. It’s actually a really cool trip to go on. If you take the time to view everything you’ll have a great time.

By: leroysbutler

leroysbutler — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:54:34 +0000

Until Pete Rose is in the HOF is tainted.

By: cackalackyank

cackalackyank — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:50:23 +0000

While I understand to an extent how and why you feel the way you do strosfan, if people like us truly stop giving a damn what is being said and done to a great American sport…then Baseball really might be doomed.

By: cackalackyank

cackalackyank — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:45:15 +0000

Maybe history will record Bud as the loser. The real loser here is the value and relevance of the HOF.

By: mvp43

mvp43 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:29:09 +0000

What makes any of these players worthy next year, if they weren’t this year? what a bunch of crap. I’m guessing that statistically there will be no changes.

By: southpaw2k

southpaw2k — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:18:51 +0000

Football is obviously a different sport, but their Hall of Fame has a minimum of two inductees every year and a max of seven. There’s no shortage of players connected to PEDs in that sport either, and yet the voters certainly don’t seem to have the conflict over voting them in the way the BBWAA does with baseball players.

By: stex52

stex52 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:02:24 +0000

Here’s a crazy idea. Do you suppose it would help if they cleared the deck of current members and restricted the BBWAA to – you know – baseball writers?

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:52:11 +0000

Anybody else intentionally not read what Mr. Allan said?

By: vallewho

vallewho — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:43:20 +0000

I had hoped to one day make the trip to Cooperstown, but today I decided that it will never happen. No matter what happens in the future.

Fuck the BBWAA!

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:31:10 +0000

What irks me most is all of us, the fans, the sports writers, the team owners, and MLB knew the players were doing more then just lifting weights and working out and still loved the heroics as well as the attendance. Anyone who says different is either naive or a liar and that includes Bud Selig. Lenny Dykstra was the epitome of something was up between his Mets years and Phillies years. Yet now all of a sudden we all want to put blinders on and act surprised, oh my they were on performance enhancing drugs. Yes it was cheating but let’s not also be no blind to the fact cheating was not limited to the steroid era. The holier thou attitude of the sports writers to me is a joke.

By: jkcalhoun

jkcalhoun — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:22:22 +0000

You don’t need someone voted in every year. But voting no one in in a year when the number of qualified candidates is probably unprecedented is almost certainly an indication of problems with the system or with the electorate.

By: giant4life

giant4life — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:22:08 +0000

The loser here is Bud…..Not only did he allow steroid use, he encouraged it…….and now passes the blame on the players……a clear failure to lead.

By: thejotapee

thejotapee — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:17:07 +0000

I assume Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, etc. won’t get in on the first ballot next year since they played in the steroid era. Forget Clemens and Bonds for a 2nd, if you’re not going to let Biggio, Bagwell, and Piazza into the hall on first ballot, despite the fact that none of the three were ever associated with steroids, then you can’t let anyone in on first ballot from the steroid era. It’s only fair.

By: strosfan85

strosfan85 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:15:35 +0000

Fuck you Bud! Dont give a damn what you have to say..

By: theebbandflow

theebbandflow — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:08:46 +0000

Effing iPhone.

OK, start again – just a thought but why do you need to have someone voted into the HOF each year? Why not draw the line now and send a message to the league that there’s going to be a dark era in the sport unless the PEDs are it out?

I understand the arguments about Bonds, Clemens and all but surely someone needs to draw the line.

By: azantor

azantor — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:07:31 +0000

Bud Selig: NOT a Hall of Famer.

By: theebbandflow

theebbandflow — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:05:20 +0000

Just