Historians, statisticians and fans united in their passion for baseball gather regularly in metro Atlanta for meetings of the Magnolia Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. Former chapter chair Terry W. Sloope recounted the results of the chapter’s recent mock election for the Baseball Hall of Fame, which mirrored the voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
This year’s election was the most controversial in years, as three of the game’s superstars and whipping boys of the steroids era — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa — joined the ballot for the first time, along with Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Larry Walker.
For the second consecutive year, our chapter members failed to support any of this year’s candidates. We had 42 members vote; 75 percent (32 votes) was needed for election to the Hall.
The top vote-getters were Biggio and Piazza, with 28 and 27 votes, respectively. Local favorite Dale Murphy finished third with 23 votes. Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell were the only others to receive 40 percent of our votes.
Clearly, a large chunk of our chapter voters and members of the BBWAA have no intention of rewarding players with links (suspected, admitted or proved) to performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Bonds and Clemens received less than 40 percent of the BBWAA vote and our mock vote. Sammy Sosa fared far worse, getting 12 percent of our vote and the BBWAA vote. Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire garnered very little love as well.
What’s my take on the Hall and steroids? I don’t like the fact that guys were juicing. I’m saddened that a guy like Bonds now holds the single-season and career home run records. But I’m not indignant. Baseball turned a blind eye to PED use for years.
We don’t know enough to identify those who used PEDs with any degree of certainty. As much as I dislike Bonds personally, I don’t think it is fair to make him, McGwire, Clemens or any others the whipping boys of the steroids era.
I voted for Bonds and Clemens. I did not vote for McGwire or Sosa. I can make a case against McGwire and Sosa based on their numbers before they allegedly started using PEDs.
The 2014 ballot will see the addition of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent, among others. Some additional voters may decide to support Bonds and Clemens in their second year of eligibility, but I doubt it will be enough to get them anywhere near the 75 percent mark. I expect Maddux, Glavine and possibly Biggio, Piazza and Thomas to win election for 2014.
