Clemens, Bonds Not Being in Cooperstown is a Disgrace to Baseball
The 2022 MLB Hall of Fame class was announced on Tuesday night at 6PM, because nobody knows how to bury an event to the point of obscurity more than Major League Baseball.
Only One Player is in This Year's Hall of Fame Class
It's been a rough few years for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2020 featured Derek Jeter, The Captain, as the crown jewel of the class that would be entering the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. Then, as voting wrapped up, and the eyes of the baseball world settled on Upstate New York, COVID-19 caused the postponement of the ceremony.
Then, in 2021, no player on the ballot received the required percentage of votes, meaning that, for the first time since 1965, no recently-retired player would enter the Hall of Fame. Though the postponed 2020 ceremony would occur in the summer of 2021, crowds were limited, and a bit of a damper was cast over the festivities.
Now, in 2022, one player, Boston Red Sox designated hitter, David Ortiz, received the required 75% of votes in order to get the call to the Hall.
That decision left two notable names, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, without enough votes, and without another chance at entering the Hall of Fame. They will get another chance to enter, through the Today's Game Era Committee, who will have the chance to elect players into the Hall in December.
It shouldn't have come to that safety valve, though. This was a mistake made by baseball, and by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Two Reasons for Why Bonds and Clemens are Hall-of-Famers
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were legends when they played. Yes, they reached immortal status in their respective positions through questionable means, but the beginnings of both careers were both spectacular.
In other words, if you follow the trends of both players' statistics before they were first mentioned in connection with performance-enhancing drugs, it's a realistic possibility that both would've been Hall of Fame players without them.
Second, you have to look at the performances of both players, in the context of the era in which they played. Roger Clemens was facing countless hitters that were probably using *something*. At the end of the day, however, they may not have been Hall of Fame caliber players, so their names don't get brought up. On the flip side, Barry Bonds probably faced a number of pitchers who were juicing, but did not become legends because of the drugs they did.
The numbers from the 1990s are forever skewed because of performance-enhancing drugs. If David Ortiz (who was also mentioned in the steroid conversation) can get in, why can't a seven-time MVP, and a pitcher who threw seven no-hitters?
Baseball is facing an identity crisis, and questions regarding the longevity of the sport. By keeping your all-time home runs leader, as well as your all-time hits leader (Pete Rose) out of the Hall of Fame, you hurt your own reputation.
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