Baseball Hall of Fame Voters playing ‘moral police’ by denying Bonds and Schilling

The Baseball Writers’ votes are in, and there are three new Hall of Famers that will enter the halls of Cooperstown. Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez all punched their tickets and will be a part of the 2017 Class.

Three different type players with three unique paths to the Golden Gates of the sport. Tim “Rock” Raines was voted in on his last year of eligibility. Jeff Bagwell has carried the suspicions of performance-enhancing drug use. However, with no failed tests, there was not enough to keep him from the prestigious honor. Rodriguez was the only one of the three elected as a first-time candidate on the ballot.

Some suspicions of the same PED use by Pudge certainly exists, but with no black and white criteria for the voters to adhere to, he was able to reach the 75 percent threshold.

Like many years before, the discussion around the Baseball Hall of Fame isn’t about who got in; it’s about who didn’t.

There were a number of players who achieved great things on the baseball field, but due to suspicion of steroid use or character issues have jaded voter’s support of their Hall of Fame bid. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Curt Schilling are all deserving candidates to Cooperstown but have been marked as wrongdoers who need to learn a lesson before being elected.

The Baseball Writers are like parents who are punishing their children by putting them in timeout. Ironically, the same writers who are disciplinarians to the players allowed former Commissioner Bud Selig to pass the line and walk straight into Cooperstown.

Selig was commissioner during what is known as the “Steroid Era” of baseball, and, for the early part of his tenure, turned a blind eye to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs. It took a book by former power hitter turned whistleblower, Jose Canseco, for people to take notice of the rapid use of drugs within the ballparks of the Major League.

Though the three players are seemingly deserving of the great honor to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, more than one player was slighted in the eyes of fans. Here is a look at them and their Hall of Fame Resumes.

Vladimir Guerrero

Vladimir Guerrero is one of the victims of the hypocrisy of the Baseball Writers. They have taken it upon themselves not only to decide who should enter Cooperstown but when it is appropriate for them to enter.

Guerrero was a nine-time all-star, eight-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a former American League Most Valuable Player. He was a remarkable hitter, batting .318 with 449 home runs, 1,496 RBI and over 2,500 hits.

Defensively, his skills diminished late in his career, which led to him becoming a designated hitter primarily. During his prime, however, he had an incredible arm and led the American League in assists during his 2004 MVP season.

Looking at the numbers, he should have been a lock for the Hall of Fame, and that’s even before the eye test. If you watched Vlad Guerrero at bat, you would see one of the most feared hitters in the history of the game. A player who never met a pitch he didn’t like; he would swing at balls well outside of the strike zone and either homer or crush them into the gap.

Guerrero should have been a no-brainer, yet this mystique of who belongs in Cooperstown on the first ballot will make him wait another year.

Hall of Fame Moment: On Oct. 11, 2009, Guerrero collected a two-run RBI single in the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox to advance the Angels to the ALCS. It was the club’s first ever post-season series win against the Red Sox.

Trevor Hoffman

No other player got closer to getting the nod into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year than Trevor Hoffman. The closer, who is second all-time in saves behind the great Mariano Rivera, finished his career with 601.

A model of consistency, Hoffman collected at least 30 saves in 14 years. He was named to the All-Star team seven times, was a two-time saves leader and one of the most recognizable players ever to don a San Diego Padres jersey.

The knock on Hoffman has always been his inefficiency in the post-season where he has a 1-2 record and only four converted saves. That can be seen as more of an indictment on his teams than on Hoffman.

One can only imagine that Hoffman will be an inductee as earlier as next year, where he will only need to improve his vote total by five to be enshrined.

Hall of Fame Moment: On Sep. 24, 2006, Trevor Hoffman passed all-time saves leader, Lee Smith, with save number 479 in a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Barry Bonds

The evidence is as clear as it comes with Barry Bonds alleged steroid use. You can see the transformation of his body with your own eyes, and each year Bonds would be bigger and stronger than the previous season.

Truly, he was the most feared hitter in all of baseball during the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Bonds ended his career as the all-time home run leader with 762, and the list of honors and awards are unmatched: a 14-time All-Star, an eight-time Gold Glove winner and a seven-time National League Most Valuable Player.

Prior to the noticeable transformation, Bonds was arguably the best player in the game. In his 1993 season, his first with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds batted .336, with 46 home runs and 123 RBI, en route to winning the National League MVP.

There is no question why his induction into the Hall of Fame has been put on hold — performance enhancing drugs. With the moment leaning toward letting the alleged players into Cooperstown, it will only be a matter of time before the greatest in my lifetime has his place.

Hall of Fame Moment: The 1990 season when Barry Bonds became the first member of the 30-30 club. He hit 33 home runs and had 52 steals, garnering his first Most Valuable Player award.

Roger Clemens

No player found themselves in more hot water than Roger Clemens when it came to the government’s involvement in the process to clean up baseball. Clemens, who testified in front of Congress, said that he never used any PEDs before getting indicted by a Grand Jury, only to be found not guilty of perjury in 2008.

As controversial as the “Rocket” was off the field, the same aura followed him on the field. Most notably during the 2000 Subway Series against the New York Mets, where it appeared that he had thrown a broken bat in the direction of Mets star catcher Mike Piazza. The Yankees went on to win the World Series that year.

Like Bonds, the honors and awards Clemens has received justify an induction into Cooperstown. Over his 24-year career, he was an 11-time All-Star, seven-time Cy Young Award winner, two-time winner of the prestigious pitching Triple Crown and capped it off with an American League MVP in 1986.

There is no question that Clemens may have been the greatest pitcher of an era, but only time will tell if the Baseball Writers will allow him to walk through the gates of the Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame Moment: During the 1986 season, when he was virtually unhittable, he led the Major Leagues in wins and ERA. Clemens went on to win his first Cy Young Award and the American League’s Most Valuable Player award.

Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco formed one of the most feared middle-of-the-lineup tandems of all-time. The bats of the “Bash Brothers” powered the Oakland Athletics to a World Series championship in 1989, but it is when Big Mac became a part of the St. Louis Cardinals that he captivated audiences and helped revive the dying sport of baseball.

The 1998 Major League season wasn’t about who would win the World Series. Instead, it was about who would be the first to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record of 61. Three players, Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa, grabbed the spotlight and dazzled crowds on a nightly basis with what seemed like an endless supply of monstrous home runs.

In the end, it was McGwire who was honored with hitting home run number 62 to break the record, and he went on his way to 70 for the season. It was a new record that lasted for a few years before being broken by Barry Bonds.

Unlike Bonds, McGwire’s talent wasn’t as prevalent. His power and hitting ability took a dip before joining the Cardinals. McGwire became a caricature as he grew like Popeye before fans’ eyes.

Where Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer with or without the use of steroids, it is unclear whether McGwire could have maintained the consistency without subjecting himself to cheating. That’s a discussion I’m sure the Baseball Writers keep coming back to when filling out their ballots.

Hall of Fame Moment: On Sep. 8, 1998, McGwire hit the home run to surpass Roger Maris’ as the single-season home run king. Ironically, Sammy Sosa and the Maris’ family were in the building to witness the historical moment.

Curt Schilling

The blackballing of Curt Schilling is for a different reason. On the field, there was never a more fierce competitor. Off the field, during his post-playing days, Schilling has been very controversial. His Conservative political views, a failed gaming company and tweets that subsequently got him fired from ESPN all add fuel to the controversy fire.

Schilling’s support has fallen from 52 percent to 45 percent over the last year. The “moral police” strike again!

Albeit, he is an average regular season pitcher by any standard. It is in the playoffs where the word “clutch” and Schilling become synonymous. An 11-2 post-season record and a staggering 2.23 ERA helped the teams that Schilling manned the hill for win three World Series Championships, and this includes a World Series MVP in 2001.

While the post-season resume should cement Schilling’s place in Cooperstown, his honors and awards are nothing to scoff at. Schilling was a six-time All-Star, two-time National League strikeout leader and two-time Major League wins leader.

The exclusion of Curt Schilling is the most egregious of all the Hall of Fame slights because it’s based on beliefs rather than evidence of cheating. With known racists like Ty Cobb and Trist Speaker in Cooperstown, the Baseball Writers need to judge a player about their accomplishments on the field.

Hall of Fame Moment: Oct. 19, 2004, Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Known as the “bloody sock game,” Schilling’s performance propelled the Boston Red Sox to a win over the rival New York Yankees and forced a Game 7. The Red Sox would go on to win the 2004 World Series behind the pitching of Schilling, ending the “Curse of the Bambino.”