I spend too much time following this stuff.
You can follow the excellent ballot tracker at the link. Right now it looks like Derek Jeter and Larry Walker, with Curt Schilling a strong maybe.
Bonds and Clemens both got bumps, but perhaps not enough.
Omar Vizquel got a small bump in his 3rd year and I predict he will make it eventually.
Link: HOF Ballot Tracker
Looks like Bonds and Clemens will finally make the leap next year.
If you're on twitter, he's a worthwhile follow - @NotMrTibbs
I heard this floated on some sports show he other day. Not sure if I agree, really, but I thought it was interesting.
Put Shoeless Joe in now. Rose, Bonds, Clemens etc go in when they die.
Might be a bit harsh.
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Leo Durocher was voted in after he was dead. In his case it was a conspiracy -- the BBWAA despised him and the word was out not to vote for him until he died.
Rose agreed to a lifetime ban, so that would make sense for him. Once his life is over, MLB can reinstate him, then he would be eligible under the rules for the Hall of Fame voters.
Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield -- these guys are in a different category, because they were suspected of juicing but it was never proved. Writers aren't voting for them because they think they cheated (and they probably did)..At the height of his career with the Yankees, Sheffield was the scariest hitter on the planet.
My only problem with it is that we already have some guys in there who are (or should be) just as tainted as the Bonds/Clemens/McGwire/Ramirez bunch. They just didn't happen to have their names directly attached to the scandal.
All those players deserve to get in. You're right about players being in that are tainted so why not open the door fully?
Do we crack it open for the guys for which there is overwhelming evidence, but no proof (Clemens, Bonds)? Fine, then how about the guys that got busted multiple times (Manny, A-Rod)?
This is the gift that Bud Selig / Donald Fehr left us. Bud is in the HOF, btw. Ain't that a kick in the ass?
My inclination is to err on the side of the players who we reasonably suspect are clean. If you are stained by steroids, too bad. You'll have to take solace in your millions of dollars, but you're not getting in. This isn't life or death, it's a freakin club. There are far greater tragedies in life.
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Just make it part of their story. If you walked up and read Bonds' plaque, it would tell you that he's 1st all-time in WAR and Home Runs, won 7 M.V.P.'s, had 5 30-30 seasons, and that significant evidence exists showing that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
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