The Hall of Fame debate

The 2018 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced today, and with that, I think it would be a good time to express my thoughts on who is in the Hall, who is not in, and what I think about the most talked about members and non-members.

The elections of Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, and Jim Thome were announced today, and Alan Trammell and Jack Morris will also be inducted this summer. Jones received the highest percentage of votes out of all of those men, with 97.2% of voters listing him on their ballots. Are all six of these men deserving of election? Certainly, they are. However, as has been the case for multiple years now, the bigger story was who was still not elected.

Roger Clemens received votes on 57.3% of ballots, and Barry Bonds received votes on 56.4% of ballots. In order to be elected into the Hall, a player must receive votes on at least 75% of all ballots. So while both of these men did garner a lot of votes, they are still seemingly quite far from gaining entrance into baseball's most hallowed museum. And I use the word museum quite literally there. It may not be the opinion of every baseball fan, but I believe that the Hall of Fame is a museum documenting the history of the sport. It is called the Hall of Fame for a reason. It isn't the Hall of Nice Guys or the Hall of Humanitarians. It is called the Hall of Fame because it represents the most famous people in the sport, and fame does not always come about through good will or good behavior.

If you look in the baseball record books, it is impossible to get very far without seeing the names of both Bonds and Clemens. One of the most sacred record in not only baseball, but all of sports, is the individual record for home runs in a career. If you are even a casual fan of the sport, you most likely know the career home run totals of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. Aaron's 715th home run, breaking Ruth's record of 714, was one of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport. And then when Bonds hit his 756th home run, it was just as historic. Bonds' single season record of 73 home runs is also nearly as historic. His name is at the top of two of the most significant lists in all of sports.

Roger Clemens won 354 games in his career and struck out 4,672 batters along the way. That ranks him 9th and 3rd respectively in both of those categories. Out of the top 14 pitchers in career strikeouts, Clemens is the only one not currently a member of the Hall of Fame. There are 24 pitchers that have won at least 300 games in their career. Out of all of them, Clemens is the only one not in the Hall of Fame. The numbers of both Bonds and Clemens are not borderline Hall of Fame numbers. They are numbers that absolutely warrant election. However, since both of these men have the dark cloud of steroids hanging over their heads, they have yet to been granted entry in the Cooperstown museum.

Do steroids give players an unfair advantage over others who do not use steroids? The answer is almost certainly yes. Are the suspensions for steroid use now extremely harsh? Yes. However, those regulations did not exist when Bonds and Clemens played, and therefore it should not be held against them that they were using performance enhancers that have been deemed illegal after their careers ended. I know what the detractors will say. These men, as well as other steroid users, knew they were gaining an unfair advantage over their competition. And they probably did know that. But if it was not against the rules when they were playing, why should these guys be punished?

All you need to do is a little bit of research and you can find multiple examples of how this argument can be used against many players who currently are in the Hall of Fame. Ask baseball fans if they have ever heard of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn. If they have, then they most likely can tell you that he won 59 games during the 1884 season. And, you did not read that wrong. He won FIFTY-NINE games during the 1884 season. During his entire career, he won 309 games. But, the game of baseball was much different during Radbourn's career.

The current distance from the pitching rubber to home plate is 60 feet and 6 inches. A pitcher's foot must remain on the rubber from start to finish of any given pitch. So one would assume that any pitcher throwing from a distance other than that should not be compared to pitchers who threw from that distance. In the late 19th century when Radbourn played, the concept of a "pitching mound" did not exist. Instead, there was a "pitcher's box," somewhat similar to what we now call a batter's box. The box was much larger than a modern day pitching rubber, and its distance was 45 feet from home plate, a distance that is considerably less than the current day distance. Also, unlike modern day rules that state a pitcher's foot must be on the rubber at all times during any given pitch, players in the 19th century could throw from wherever they wanted as long as they were within that pitcher's box, which was considerably larger than a pitching rubber we use in the 21st century. So does that extra 15 feet give 19th century pitchers a clear advantage over 21st century pitchers? Without question it does. Should Radbourn be denied entry into the Hall of Fame because of that? Apparently not, because he has been a member since 1939.

Next up, we have Bob Gibson. Gibson is, in the eyes of many that watched him, arguably the greatest pitcher to ever play the game. Although he had many great seasons, his best was 1968, when won 22 games and had a historically great ERA of 1.12. In the 21st century, an ERA under 3.00 is considered great, but an ERA of 1.12? That is absolutely unbelievable. It is a record that will probably never be broken. Is Gibson a Hall of Famer? He most certainly is. But was the game different in 1968? Yes, it was.

In lieu of that pitcher's box I spoke of with Radbourn, later years brought about another change in pitching style. Pitchers found that they could throw pitches with more force while striding downhill, and eventually, what we know today as the pitcher's mound was formed. Originally, the height guidelines stated that mounds be no more than 15 feet high, but these rules were lightly enforced, and in some stadiums, mounds were higher than that. Throwing pitches from higher elevations gave pitchers a bigger advantage over hitters, and therefore these pitchers welcomed stadiums that were notorious for mounds of increased height. However, after Gibson's historic 1968 season, the league decided that, in an effort to lessen this advantage that pitchers had, they would set new regulations that would be enforced much more strictly. The pitching mound would be 10 inches high, and there were no more excuses for every mound at every stadium being that way. Was it a coincidence that these changes happened because of Gibson's historically low ERA? Some could say no, but it surely played at least some part in it happening. Does that sound familiar? Following a power outburst that brought about an era of unprecedented home run numbers, did the league make new rules? Yes, it did. Were Bonds and Clemens subject to these new rules? Yes, they were. However, since the rules were not in place while they were both setting records, those records still correctly remained.

There is still another example of how the game has changed though that I would like to use. In 1901, a rule was adopted by the league that foul balls counted as strikes. Up until that point, strikes were only called if a batter swung and missed, or a batter took a pitch that was judged to be in the strike zone. Therefore, striking batters out was much harder for pitchers to do than it is today, since foul balls were basically the equivalent of a do-over.

Giancarlo Stanton won the National League MVP award this past season. He struck out 163 times. Willie Keeler, a member of the Hall of Fame, played 19 seasons and struck out 136 times. That's right. The 2017 MVP struck out more times in one season than Keeler did in 19 seasons. The most times Keeler struck out in a single season was 13. Omitting seasons at both the beginning and ends of his career when he played limited amounts of games, Keeler had nine seasons in which he played at least 100 games and struck out less than 10 times. In the 21st century, it is not uncommon for a player to strike out 10 times within the course of one week. Did the rules back in the late 19th and early 20th century clearly favor Keeler and all other batters? They absolutely did. Is Keeler still a member of the Hall of Fame? He certainly is.

What I mean by telling you all of this is that the game of baseball, just like any sport and any part of life in general, evolves over time. The world of 2018 is far different from the world that was lived in over a decade ago, let alone a century ago, and that evolution should not affect the standing of guys like Bonds and Clemens. Did they do things that are now considered offensive and illegal in the baseball world? Yes, they did. But, were these things illegal when they were active players? No, they were not.

The Hall of Fame is a museum depicting the history of the sport of baseball. While there are all sorts of great baseball moments that are commemorated in Cooperstown, a true museum does not just focus on the positives. It focuses on the negatives as well, so long as those negatives were significant enough to be an integral part of history. There is no denying that the careers of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are integral pieces in the story of baseball. For that reason, they absolutely deserve induction into the Hall of Fame, and even though opinions may be very slowly changing and accepting of this idea, I doubt that these men will gain induction any time soon.

Ty Cobb, considered by many to be one of, if not the greatest player of all time was a member of the first ever Hall of Fame class. Cobb used to physically fight opponents, umpires, and sometimes even spectators. Cap Anson was a known and unapologetic racist. Orlando Cepeda served almost a year in prison for a drug conviction. Countless members of the Hall of Fame, including Babe Ruth, who has an entire room in the museum dedicated solely to him, were outright and unashamed alcoholics and carousers.

What I am trying to say is, Bonds and Clemens need to be in the Hall of Fame. They may not have been the nicest of friendliest men in the world, but the Hall of Fame is full of men just as, if not more so, angry and tempestuous. Will either of these guys eventually end up members of the Hall of Fame? Only time will tell. But one thing I can say without question is that if the story of the history of baseball is being told, it is not nearly complete without Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Daily Giants Update: James Bettcher was named today as the new defensive coordinator, while Thomas McGaughey is the new special teams coach. I'm not too familiar with either of them, but I do know that Bettcher favors a 3-4 style of defense, and I am not a fan of playing defense that way. Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul are studs as 4-3 defensive ends, and I would hate to see them standing up and playing as outside linebackers in a 3-4 system. Also, the Giants have not had any good inside linebackers in years, so shifting to a 3-4 would not only call for one good inside linebacker, but it would call for two. Bettcher has obviously not been in charge for very long, so hopefully he isn't stubborn in his methods, because I do not think that the Giants have the personnel in place to be able to effectively run a 3-4 defense.

Daily Diamondbacks Update: No new news here, but the countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting continues.

Daily Rangers Update: The last game for the Rangers ended in a 6-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Next up is a game in San Jose against the Sharks. It will end a four-game west coast trip that has thus far yielded nothing but losses for the team.

Daily NBA Update: Dan Gilbert is reportedly interested in selling the Cleveland Cavaliers, and there are a whole bunch of interesting ways to look at this that I will probably try to write about if and when this sale actually takes place. On the court, Ben Simmons posted a monstrous triple-double this past night, and he seems like an obvious choice for rookie of the year.