By the time you read this, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) likely will have announced the Hall of Fame inductees for 2013.

The ballot, if I had one (believe it or not, Midatlanticbias.blogspot.com does not warrant membership in the BBWAA), shouldn’t be a terribly hard one to fill out. But that doesn’t mean that professional sports writers can’t make the story about themselves in the process. Page views!!!

This is the first year of eligibility for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds, who is arguably the greatest player in the history of Major League Baseball and Roger Clemens, who is arguably the greatest right handed pitcher of the live ball era. If ever there was a sure thing, this would be it.

Except….

You may recall that from the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, baseball had a bit of a PR issue with players using steroids (known incorrectly as “Performance enhancing drugs”). Roger Clemens is a known user of said “PEDs.” Barry Bonds is a suspected user. It’s never actually been proven that he was a user. But in the eyes of god (professional sports writers, in their own minds) Bonds is guilty and must be punished.

Nothing about filling out the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot should be difficult. Some members of the BBWAA often bring up the clause about character as a means to define who belongs and who doesn’t, all the while forgetting that Ty Cobb, one of history’s great racist pigs, is a celebrated member of the “hallowed Hall.” Thank goodness he never used steroids.

Even those players who never had a PED rumor thrown at them have been dragged down by the show. Craig Biggio, only slightly larger than me, is a potential Hall of Fame player and first time candidate. Biggio perhaps played too long (41 years old), bringing down his career numbers. But his peak is remarkable for a second baseman. Between 1994 and 2001, he never had an on-base pct. below .382. He made 5 all-star teams during that time (not that that’s a perfect metric). He contributed just under 41 wins above replacement during that time and posted a career 62.1 WAR (B-R). Biggio has no shot of making the Hall of Fame this time around. Which is wrong. Should there be a debate about his worthiness? Sure. Should he be kept out solely because of the era he played in? Absolutely not.

Meanwhile, in his 13th year on the Hall of Fame ballot, Jack Morris is the likeliest candidate to receive induction. This is because old people forget things. Old people forget that Morris’ career ERA hovers just below 4.00. They forget that he never won a Cy Young. They forget that he was not a strikeout pitcher (5.8/9 innings). They forget that he walked a fair amount of batters (3.3/9 innings). They certainly overlook the advanced metrics that tell you that Jack Morris was slightly worse during his career than Javier Vazquez. 

By the way, 13 years on the ballot is more than enough to determine whether a player belongs in the Hall of Fame. Frankly, one time on the ballot is enough. Jack Morris hasn’t thrown a pitch in nearly 20 years. His career didn’t get better overnight.
But Jack Morris was a “throwback pitcher.” He was “gritty.” He was “a gamer.” He “pitched to the score.” All of those phrases mask the fact that the numbers show he just wasn’t an exceptional pitcher. Pfft. Numbers. What do they tell you?

Look, baseball has been marked throughout its history by cheating. Amphetamines, game fixing, keeping all of the black players out, and PEDs. We didn’t keep all of the white players who wanted a segregated game out of the Hall of Fame (in fact, we keep inducting players who have absolutely no right to be in the Hall). We didn’t stage a witch hunt to see which players from the 1980s were wolfing down greenies like double quarter pounders with cheese. And we shouldn’t do it now. Induct those who performed like Hall of Famers, regardless of whether you think it was enhanced. It’s the Baseball Hall of Fame. Not Heaven.


For the sake of it, I would vote for the following players:

Hall of Fame:
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Sammy Sosa
Edgar Martinez
Mike Piazza

For the others (including Biggio and Tim Raines, who just miss my cut), perhaps we should come up with a Hall of Very Good.

***UPDATE***

I somehow failed to include Jeff Bagwell on my fake Hall of Fame ballot. He belongs on there. There should be no question.