Comments on: Thoughts on the HOF voting

By: Motorbreath2000

Motorbreath2000 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:47:00 +0000

Fact is, nobody has proven that McGwire ever did use steroids. You have him denying to talk about anything in front of a grand jury (which doesn’t exactly prove anything), and you have Jose Canseco’s allegations. Sure, Jose played with the guy, but I wouldn’t trust him not to throw a teammate under the bus in order to make a few bucks (plus, he isn’t exactly the most trustworthy guy on the planet, either). I say if you can’t prove it, then you can’t deny him something because of something you have no proof of (just like Pete Rose, who finally had to come out in a plea in order to try to make the hall, and it still didn’t work).

By: hal

hal — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Perhaps Big Mac was a HOF steroid user, but I think he still deserves to be in the hall. I would vote for him too. As the years go by, maybe there won’t be such a stigma associated with the players wrapped up in the steroid era. Baseball, however people want to hold it in their minds, was what it was, and it should be acknowledged rather than swept under the rug.

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:52:00 +0000

I’m curious about something you wrote in regard to voting for Blyleven. What is the thought process behind not voting for a guy who’s been retired for more than a decade one year, but voting for him the next. I’m not just talking about Blyleven (who, if Don Sutton has a bust, definitely deserves one too), but any of these guys who seem to pick up steam as their eligibility wanes. I guess I could see how Rice’s accomplishments seem more impressive because of how his numbers seem better when considering the fact that he played in a pre-steroids era, but this happens all the time. Your thoughts?

By: Murph

Murph — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Great to be reading you again Fletch! One question about the Hall voting — do writers get lifetime voting rights? How in the world was that guy who writes for the Arizona retirement community newsletter (who didn’t vote for Rickey) still have a vote? Seems if baseball wanted to maintain some credibility, they’d make some new writers at places like the Hardball Times eligible. At least they wouldn’t vote for Matt Williams of Jay Freakin Bell. For all of baseball’s talk about maintaining the integrity of the game, that seems a little ridiculous.