Baseball Hall Of Fame Adds Ortiz, No Bonds, Clemens
Growing up in Illinois, I was raised to be a Chicago Cubs fan. My first memories of the Cubs was watching the games on WGN Channel 9. I have memories of Jack Brickhouse, Harry Carey and Len Kasper doing the play by play. I remember the "Windy Day at Wrigley" in 1979 when the Cubs lost to the Phillies 23 to 22 in 10 innings. I have always loved watching baseball and I still believe it is the National Pastime.
I have a lot of respect for the game. I know around here, there are a lot of Kansas City Royals fans, and St Louis Cardinal fans. Many of you have memories of watching Lou Brock, George Brett, Stan Musial, and Gaylord Perry. I have been to Busch Stadium, and Kauffman Stadium. Great ballparks to see a game.
For me, getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame is a honor, and the Class of 2022 will only have David Ortiz. He gets in with about 78% of the vote. He also tested positive for steroids when it was secret. Most of his numbers came after stricter testing. He has numbers that are worthy of the Hall of Fame and 3 World Series rings. He was good with the media. For better or worse, that got him the 75% he needed.
This voting round was the 10th and final opportunity for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, and Sammy Sosa. None of them got in, and I am fine with it. Barry Bonds broke one of the most sacred records in MLB history. Henry "Hank" Aaron's home run record. He did it with the help of steroids. Hank never needed them and neither did Barry. But he took them. And it inflated his numbers. He was also not very good to the media. Like it or not, voters hold grudges, and they were not going to let him in.
As for Clemens, 7 Cy Young awards, and over 350 wins. But he was also linked to performance enhancing drugs. He isn't in either. Both will need the Veterans Committee to get in. They will need 12 out of 16 votes.
Schilling was borderline anyway, and his Right Wing political views rubbed many the wrong way and he blamed the media for a lot of things that were 100% false. He was not a surprise. Sammy Sosa...steroids. Only man in MLB history with 3 seasons of over 60 home runs. He has never admitted to what we all know he did.
I have always felt that if you don't play the game honestly, you do not deserve to get in. Period. Personally, I can do without Big Papi in the Hall. Heck, most of his numbers were done as a DH. Didn't play in the field too often. But I am not a voter.
If the Veterans Committee puts Bonds and Clemens in, then Pete Rose needs to go in. Rose's actions were not done as a player. Bonds and Clemens were. Big difference.
Kind of odd, the All time hits leader, All time home run leader, and total Cy Young awards leader, are not in the MLB Hall of Fame. Seems strange. Karma, perhaps.