Being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is an honor unlike being inducted into any other hall of fame in sports. The exclusivity of admissions is legendary, and every year, players who were among the best of their generation are denied. Former MVP Don Mattingly was named American League Player of the Year three consecutive years by The Sporting News yet he has a better chance of being mistaken for hall-of-famer Reggie Jackson than of having a plaque next to him in Cooperstown one day. As Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton said, “If you don’t feel an aura that’s almost spiritual when you walk through the Hall of Fame, then check tomorrow’s obituary: you’re in it.”
The upcoming Hall of Fame vote on Mark McGwire, however, threatens to compromise the aura of this sacred place. McGwire has the baseball resume of a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee including the seventh-most home runs of all time, but may not be elected because of his suspected use of steroids. The directors of the Hall are making a major mistake in not making a ruling on how possible steroid use effects eligibility. By leaving McGuire on the ballot, they are forcing the voters of the Baseball Association of America to both act as judges in the steriods scandal and to set a precedent as to the effect of such scandal on candidates’ induction chances. This cannot be a good thing. In the next ten years, a number of other would-be Hall of Famers including Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa will face similar issues with their candidacies. Are baseball writers supposed to be forced to make decisions about suspicions when the facts are so opaque? Clearly Barry Bonds’ head weighs more than a small child, but is it fair to exclude him and some of the other greatest players in the history of the game based on physical appearance and the writings of “creditable” sources like Jose Conseco? The steroid era in baseball coincided with the proliferation of supplements, so how is a writer supposed to be able to tell whether a massive slugger like Frank Thomas was juiced legally or illegally? Many other questions complicate the vote as well. For example, can a player’s overwhelming achievements compensate for his steroid use in the case of a Barry Bonds but not that of Rafael Palmeiro?
In the past, players such as Pete Rose who clearly violated the rules were ruled ineligible, while players with character issues such as Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, who was a racist and got in fistfights with both fans and umpires, were deemed eligible. The Hall of Fame needs to either create a policy about voting for players suspected of steroid use or make McGwire ineligible until they find out the facts about his use. Otherwise, he should be elected. His baseball career speaks for itself and ironically, his obvious guiltiness in the eyes of the public only became apparent after his retirement with the release of Jose Conseco’s book and his appearance in front of Congress. When asked about the impending vote recently, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wisely replied, “We’ll have to work our way through all of it. All we can do realistically is take care of the present and the future.” Hopefully Selig quickly follows his own advice and sees that a more comprehensive framework for evaluating these new Hall of Fame candidates is enacted. Otherwise, the hall’s unmistakable aura will be put at risk.
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