The message the Baseball Writers Association of America sent on Jan. 9 was loud and clear: Players who are even under suspicion of taking performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are not welcome in Cooperstown.
Coinciding with Lance Armstrong’s confession of using PEDs was the fact that the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) admitted zero players to Baseball’s Hall of Fame for the first time since 1996.
This year’s potential Hall of Fame class was unique in that it was the first time many players that were accused of using PEDs were eligible to go to Cooperstown. Instead of ignoring the issue, the Baseball Writers zeroed in on it.
If the BBWAA wants to keep Cooperstown clean, they’ll never be able to vote for players from the steroids era. Not until there is a clear way of determining who’s cheating and who isn’t.
So until then, there’s a solution for this problem: ignore PEDs when voting for the Hall of Fame.
I’m not saying fans and writers shouldn’t look down on PED use. But the reality of the situation is that today — it’s still a part of baseball.
Writers can’t base a PED accusation on what a player looks like. Some players that fans are almost positive took PEDs, have never been proven guilty.
The only way to determine if a player is guilty of cheating is if they test for high levels of testosterone. Even then, unless they admit to cheating, it still isn’t one hundred percent effective in proving PED use.
The mass Hall of Fame rejection struck a personal note with me. Craig Biggio, Houston Astros legend and my favorite ball player growing up, missed becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer by 39 votes.
Despite over 3,000 career hits, he was rejected from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer — the last time a player with over 3,000 career hits didn’t become a first-ballot Hall of Famer was in 1945.
I could understand the likes of Clemens and Bonds, who became the faces of the rampant PED era, not getting in on their first try, but Biggio wasn’t that kind of player.
Make no mistake about it; there is no controversy with Craig Biggio.
Playing his entire 20-year career with the Astros, Biggio ranks fifth all-time in doubles and 20th in hits. He was a seven-time All-Star and a Gold Glover four times.
Former World Series MVP Curt Schilling, who was also denied an entrance into Cooperstown, offered an explanation. He believes that everyone was rejected because players were grouped together as one, for “[turning] a blind eye” to PED use. For that, they all paid the price.
I can’t help but agree with Schilling. And in Biggio’s case, it makes the most sense. After all, with the exception of Pete Rose and Rafael Palmeiro, all players with 3,000 career hits are in the Hall of Fame.
Baseball writers claim that taking PEDs isn’t fair. I agree with that sentiment.
But not voting for a guy who had 3,000 hits? I can’t say I agree with that.
Contact Sean Wagner-McGough at [email protected]