This was not a shock–at least twice I mentioned that this could happen–but it is jarring. The last time the writers failed to elect a candidate was 1996 and this was only the second time in 41 years. It takes 75 percent of the vote, not simply a majority, to elect an individual to the Hall of Fame.  Former Astros second baseman Craig Biggio led the way with 68.2 percent of the 569 votes cast. Pitcher Jack Morris, as he was last year, came in second at 67.7 percent. Morris will be on the ballot for the last time next year. (more…)

The same standard that applies to the BBWAA was used by the writers of FanSided, with 75 percent of the vote needed to gain entrance into the Hall. Of course, the BBWAA has been more than a little hesitant to included internet-based writers into its membership, so we get no official vote, but if we did, our conglomerate put their heads together and determined that Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Falling just short of our election was Craig Biggio and Roger Clemens, each coming up two votes short, and Barry Bonds, who ended up three votes behind. Each writer was limited to ten players on their ballot, as is the case with the BBWAA election. FanSided, however, also asked its writers to submit a second ballot without the restrictions placed upon them. In that election, Biggio and Clemens earned enough votes to get in, as did Tim Raines. Interestingly, Bonds still came up short in this scenario.

Though he may be the only player inducted (if any are at all) when the BBWAA results are announced on Wednesday, Jack Morris managed only 30.4 percent of the FanSided vote. That number climbed top just over 40 percent when the 10-player limit was removed.

Complete results can be found at Wahoo’s on First, where Lewie Pollis published the results.

I can certainly understand the hesitancy to include Bonds and Clemens if the idea of steroids is something you feel is an affront to the game. There is a vocal segment of the fanbase who detest anyone who has been implicated in the use of PEDs and those people would probably never support either Clemens or Bonds for enshrinement. That said, I do wonder who the writers are that voted for Clemens but not Bonds. Clemens was arguably the greatest starting pitcher of his generation and at worst he was second behind Greg Maddux. Bonds really had no peer as a hitter unless you consider Ken Griffey Jr. and merely forgive the years lost to injury.

My point is that if you think Clemens is a Hall of Famer, you’d better think Bonds was as well. To do otherwise is allowing a personal dislike for the guy to cloud your judgement and bias your thinking.

If that’s the way that new media writers are going to vote, then perhaps it’s best the BBWAA doesn’t allow most of us as members.

For the sake of transparency, my ballot included Bonds, Clemens, Biggio, Piazza, Morris, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, Raines, and Bagwell.

Just as in the case of his compatriot Roger Clemens, the pitching version of Bonds on the ballot for the first time, Bonds compiled monumental statistics and a boggling record of achievement during his lengthy career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. Many voters will convict Bonds in their minds on circumstantial evidence that he did the enhancing, even if, also like Clemens, thorough and expensive government investigation did not prove that he took drugs to help his game. (more…)

But others on the ballot will be lucky to get a single vote and will pass from the ballot without a blip on the radar screen. Achieving a 75 percent acceptance ratio is a high standard to meet to gain entrance into the Hall of Fame. It should be a strict, tough minimum standard. And being on the ballot for 15 years is enough time for an entire generation of voters to come and go and for a career to be examined in hindsight. (more…)

Let the man take the podium, voters! Mandatory Credit: Ford McClave-US PRESSWIRE

I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but there is absolutely no guarantee that taking steroids will do much of anything in terms of on-the-field ability. Plenty of players have been found out as steroid users, and the majority have been far from elite performers. We have no scientific evidence suggesting that steroids even do anything for a baseball player; maybe the added strength means the ball will travel a bit farther, but it isn’t like the hitter doesn’t still have to get the head of the bat on the ball and judge the strike zone. The only point I’m truly willing to concede is that steroids can help with healing from injuries and perhaps avoiding them in the first place. Big deal.

Even if you’re into the whole steroid crusade thing, hear me out on Bonds. You’ve surely read all the arguments before, but with the man’s Hall of Fame induction hinging on the bloodthirsty baseball writers of yore, it seems prudent to discuss Bonds’ resume once again. First off, we have the cold hard facts. Bonds may have played in an era rampant with steroid use and/or a juiced ball. I don’t care. Eras throughout history have included plenty of advantageous moves by players, and some of the heralded superstars of our past had the advantage of only playing against other white players in a segregated game.

Bonds excelled in the era he played; that’s all he could do. But he didn’t just merely excel, he broke Hank Aaron‘s all-time home run record with 762 long balls and put together a string of seasons that simply defy reason. Bonds broke the single season home run record in 2001 with a robust 73; in that season he hit .328/.515/.863. Little did we know at the time, he had two better seasons still waiting in the wings, at least when it comes to OPS. Bonds posted a 1.381 OPS the following season and then a 1.422 OPS two years after that when he just so happened to get on base at a .609 clip. I can’t imagine seeing that again. No matter what you think of him, that run can’t at all be entirely attributed to steroids, and the deity-like approach at the plate he showed is just about unprecedented.

But I have to convince the steroid preachers, so let’s look back a bit. Wouldn’t everyone in their right mind have given Bonds their approval for the Hall back before his insane run and physical bulk up? Before the 2001 season ever got underway, Bonds was a career .289/.412/.567 hitter with 494 career home runs under his belt. He also happened to have stolen 471 career bases and have a career OPS+ of 165 despite what the rest of the league was doing. All inner-circle years aside, Barry Bonds was already a no doubt Hall of Fame player before there was anything to argue about.

I know the argument has been made before, but hear me out one last time. If you want to remain rigid about steroids and condemn every player caught using them or even rumored to have used them, then I know your mind can’t be changed about the last few magnificent seasons of Bonds’ career. But look at those first 15 seasons, remember what a dynamic and incredible Barry Bonds was, and then realize he was one of the very best players you have ever seen even before there was cause to doubt him. Barry Bonds was that good whether or not he gets the enshrinement he deserves.

If Brian’s writing strikes your fancy, read his work at StanGraphs and follow him on Twitter at @vaughanbasepct.

Bonds, Clemens and Sosa clearly have the statistical qualifications to be first-ballot Hall of Famers. But we are about to find out if reputation counts more than numbers in the minds of voters, if enough voters think they got away with cheating even if the cases made against each man have only grown murkier in the light of courtrooms and testimony. Does suspicion trump proof? Is truth somewhere in-between fact and hunch? (more…)

Recently, Barry Bonds, pretty much example No. 1 of the above, told MLB.com that he definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. “Oh, without a doubt,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

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Yes, it happened a long time ago, when American society was cruder, ruder, and more prejudiced than it seems to be today. Yet the words still carried power, especially to those of a certain age that had lived through and endured the stings of racism and those whose skin is as dark as a chocolate bar.

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http://media.philly.com/images/shoeless.jpg

- Lying about anything below.

- Taking money to intentionally lose the World Series (Joe Jackson and other members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox).

Black Sox: the World Series gambling scandal of 1919 … and the cover-up. Monday, June 8, 2009

Interview with Gene Carney, author of the 2006 book “Burying the Black Sox, How Baseball’s Cover-Up of the 1919 World Series Fix Almost Succeeded”.

- Taking money to intentionally lose the regular season games (Hal Chase, …).

- Gambling on games (Pete Rose).

- Intentionally hitting a batter with a pitched ball (Roger Clemens hit Mike Piazza).

- Intentionally crashing into another player (Pete Rose hit catcher Ray Fosse in an All Star game).

- Tampering with the ball (Gaylord Perry, Whitey Ford, …).

- Tampering with the bat (Sammy Sosa, Graig Nettles, …).

- Tampering with the glove or mitt.

- Faking: HBP (Derek Jeter), injury, catch, etc.

- Not trying your best.

- Using illegal performance enhancing stuff: steroids, human growth hormones, amphetamines, etc.

These players admitted using illegal performance enhancing stuff: Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Alex Rodriguez.  Based on performance and other information, these are some of the more prominent players who probably used: Nolan Ryan, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, David Ortiz.

Legal performance enhancing stuff like cortisone, coffee, vitamins, etc. is OK with most of the steroid zealots.  Amphetamines were commonly used for decades.  Before amphetamines were widely used in the U.S. Army in WWII, coffee provided a boost.  Joe DiMaggio drank coffee during games.  What, you thought he was just Mr. Coffee on TV?  They didn’t call him Joltin’ Joe for nothing.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 More on possible steroid use by Nolan Ryan.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Those 1973 Atlanta Braves: was there something in the water?

Read those two and then consider Clemens and Bonds in a new light relative to Ryan and Hank Aaron.  Remember, the cover up and lying are always worse than the crime.

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Hall of Fame election rules include:

Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

There are six criteria and at least three address the player’s character.

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You can follow the personal baseball blog of Kenneth Matinale here: Radical Baseball

Roger Clemens beat the rap Monday that he lied to Congress over taking performance-enhancing drugs. A jury in Washington, D.C. returned a verdict of not guilty in his perjury trial after 10 hours of deliberation. This was the culmination of a 10-week trial in a case that dates back about five years, counting investigatory time of Rahjah. The alleged offense was committed in February of 2008.

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