Steroids Have Me Hating Baseball Hall of Fame Debates

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by Julian Spivey
Baseball Hall of Fame debates used to be among my all-time favorite sports debates. It used to be fun discussing with friends and random strangers online who I thought deserved to be a Hall of Famer and who I didn’t think quite made the cut. Now it’s a topic I dread.
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Discussion over who does and doesn’t belong in Cooperstown, the site of the Baseball Hall of Fame, has become as heated and filled with as much vitriol and hatred as politics. It’s two-sided. It’s split down the middle and there’s seemingly no room for disagreement. You’re right if you believe one thing and an idiot if you believe the other.

Baseball began testing and penalizing for steroids almost two decades ago now, but they’re still ripping the sport apart when it comes to its hallowed halls and its fan-base. There are those who believe players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens belong in the Hall of Fame, whether they took performance enhancing drugs or not. And there are those who don’t believe they belong.

Tuesday, January 25 was always going to be D-Day for fans when it came to this topic because it was the day either Bonds and Clemens (and to a lesser extent Sammy Sosa) were either going to make the Hall of Fame via the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWA) or they were going to fall off the ballot after 10 years of eligibility.

It was the day a large portion of baseball fans were either going to be happy or furious. Based on my Twitter feed I seem to be among the minority when it comes to fans on the happy side. I’ve always felt that Bonds and Clemens and other PED users didn’t belong in the Hall of Fame because they demeaned the game of baseball. Bonds, in particular, destroyed the greatest record in all of sports in Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record, in my opinion. I felt these guys didn’t belong because they didn’t do things the right or fair way. Apparently, the majority of the BBWA agrees with me in that sentiment. I’m not sure if the majority of baseball fans do – again, based on my Twitter timeline on Tuesday.

I’ve heard all of the reasons why people believe Bonds and Clemens and others deserve induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and I’m tired of discussing it because nobody ever changes their minds and it either leads to a fight or nowhere at all, which is a waste of time.

Bonds and Clemens may have fallen off the BBWA ballot, but it doesn’t mean their Hall of Fame hopes are completely kaput. In fact, I believe both players will one day make the Hall of Fame via one of the Veterans Committees that look at players overlooked or declined by the baseball writers. When that day comes it’ll be another D-Day for baseball fans – though by that point there might be fewer of the old school fans left hoping to keep the Hall of Fame as pure as they can. I’ll admit it’s not completely pure as is, but I think it’s better off without Bonds, Clemens and their ilk.

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