The Hypocrisy of the Baseball Hall of Fame

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a history of inducting players with “integrity” issues. That is, until players accused of using PED’s became eligible.

On Monday, November 19, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the players on the  Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) 2019 ballot. One of the players many are predicting will be voted in on the first ballot is Andy Pettitte, who once admitted to using Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

If voted in, Andy Pettite will join the likes of Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, and Ivan Rodriguez, all of whom have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs.

Let’s not get anything twisted, Andy Pettitte does deserve to get in to the baseball Hall of Fame (HOF) and stand alongside Bagwell, Piazza, and Pudge Rodriguez. So too does Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Manny Ramirez.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Why?

For one, Bagwell, Piazza, and Rodriguez never failed a drug test, neither did Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa for that matter. The only HOF eligible player to have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs is Manny Ramirez, whom served his suspensions before being reinstated by MLB.

In no other era has a group of players been ostracized the way players accused of using PED’s have. You’d think players never cheated before the steroid era.

Many point to the voting rules for members of the BBWAA, specifically:

"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."

If integrity is such an issue, then someone please explain how Gaylord Perry is in the HOF? This is a guy best known for unashamedly doctoring baseballs. The spitball almost became a part of his character. Everyone knew he was doing it, and yet he still received 77.2% of the vote and was elected into the HOF in his third attempt.

It’s almost embarrassing how celebrated Gaylord Perry is for his willingness to cheat right before our very eyes. So much so that Bob Uecker and Bob Shaw ran a clinic on the illegal pitch on national television (below).

How about Orlando Cepeda? The former Rookie of the Year and MVP was arrested and served 10-months in prison for smuggling marijuana from Puerto Rico in 1975. In fairness, Cepeda wasn’t elected to the HOF by the BBWAA. He was instead voted in by a veterans committee 25 years after he last played.

Still, where’s the integrity in smuggling drugs?

Former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey is another doozy. Under Yawkey, the Red Sox became the last team in MLB to integrate. The year was 1959, 12 years after Jackie Robinson appeared for the Dodgers in the NL and Larry Darby appeared for the Indians in the AL.

These are just three examples of Hall of Famers with “integrity” issues. You’d have to write a book in order to give this topic its full diligence.

The point is, if integrity is such an issue for Hall of Fame voters, then Cooperstown in its entirety needs a facelift.

Instead, let’s give these players their due. Let them in, and on their plaques make it known that these players may have used performance enhancers.

If Andy Pettitte gets inducted into the Hall, his plaque should include that he admitted to using HGH in 2002 and in 2004 while with the New York Yankees.