Hall of Blame

  In the baseball universe there are 5 times a year when people lose their minds on the internet. Opening Day for the excitement of the new season. All Star game for the snubs. Trade deadline for the speculation. Awards week for the complaining. Finally, the Hall of Fame vote announcement, for everything, excitement, snubs, speculation, and of course complaining. This is my 8th year of "worrying" about the Hall of Fame vote. As a Barry Bonds fanboy I've been invested in his vote totals, the way it's voted on, and the aftermath of the vote announcement. I've gone from rage to sort of an acceptance and a little bit of hope, but that hope is fading. In recent years I've taken an approach of being happy for those enshrined at least a day before complaining about who didn't get in. That has treated me well, and it's helped me come to terms with reality that Bonds probably won't ever get in. I looked into my archives and I did write about Barry way back in 2013 so I'm not going to dwell on  him tonight. Instead let's work through some of the bitching and moaning that you see on social media and talking heads on the television (in the rare case they actually talk baseball).

I can't believe (Insert Player Name) didn't get 100% of the vote, that guy should lose his vote.
This is a common complaint, especially since Mariano Rivera became the first unanimous selection last year. I couldn't help myself tonight when Derek Jeter fell 1 vote short tonight. I basically predicted the backlash that this 1 writer was going to get for not voting for him. We need to end this internet shaming of people being mad for not getting their votes how they think they should go. Losing a vote for voting or not voting for someone is a silly argument. If someone writes in Scooby-Doo for president, they don't lose their vote, it's that guys vote he should be able to use it how he wants. Just because you disagree doesn't mean you're right, and that person should lose their vote. If you are someone who is upset about Jeter, think about these names, Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Mantle, Mayes, Aaron, Ryan, Morgan, Maddux, Pedro, Unit, and Griffey Jr. They are all better baseball players than Derek Jeter was none of them were unanimous, they got into the Hall of Fame just fine. Don't let 1 person ruin what should be a great celebration.

The BBWAA is broken, these guys have their votes for too long.
The Baseball Writers Association of America, have changed their procedures in recent years. In 2014 when the Hall of Fame reduced the # of years a player would be on the ballot, they also changed how long a writer got to keep his vote. If a writer hasn't been on the baseball beat in 10 years that person no longer gets a vote, it's a great rule and has lowered the voting population from over 530 in 2013 to 397 votes cast this year. That is a significant drop and one I applaud. The voting population will continue to evolve and perhaps change the narrative on certain players. I am a fan of many members of the BBWAA, all of the Giants beat writers are outstanding, and the national guys like Ken Rosenthal, Jayson Stark, and Joel Schermann are excellent stewards of the game. Again, just because you don't like how they vote doesn't mean they should lose their vote, but if they don't cover the game anymore they shouldn't judge the game anymore.

Put Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe in, they deserve it.
I have 2 problems with this statement. #1 they can't just be "put" in, they need to be held to the vote, just like other players who were suspended or thought of as "cheaters" and judging by how the voters are looking at "cheaters" I doubt there would be enough votes to put either in. Secondly, Pete Rose broke the rules, he knew what the consequences were when he did what he did. I've changed my stance on Pete Rose in recent years, I thought he belonged, but have gave it more thought and the dude knew what he was doing and has changed his story 3 times. Now Joe Jackson has a different case, every World Series of the "Dead Ball" era was shrouded in gambling controversy. The White Sox may have schemed and plotted to throw the 1919 World Series but they were hardly the only team to do so, in fact the grand jury that was convened to prosecute the White Sox were originally there to investigate the 1918 Cubs. So Shoeless Joe is the martyr of the Black Sox and he was actually on the ballot as the Hall of Fame didn't exempt players on the ineligible list until 1991. Now in recent months it has come to light that Shoeless Joe is no longer on the ineligible list as he is deceased and was banned for life by the commissioner. Well he isn't living anymore so I guess Shoeless Joe should get his day on the ballot or at least considered by a committee. What we need to do though is let this play out, every time I say something about the Hall of Fame, these 2 names get shot out, like I should consider them OK since I'm a Bonds mark. Like I said though, the rules were 60 years old when Pete Rose broke it, not nonexistent like when Bonds used.

My final point of the post is a case for Bonds, Clemens, and anyone else with suspicions of drug use. Aside from the fact they were never suspended, they also didn't break any rules that were in place by MLB. The Hall of Fame is full of racists, drug users, and plenty of other crimes, they've even let some modern day PED users in. The gatekeepers have done a terrible job. The only fault of Bonds and Clemens is that they were already better than everyone, so when they juiced they became super humans and crushed the record books. If Bonds had just been an average Hall of Fame player like say Jeff Bagwell, instead he broke the home run record. If we're going to hold Bonds and Clemens to this high of standard they need to reexamine who they've already allowed in. Now I will contend they are already in the HOF, as their accomplishments, along with Pete Rose's are there, they just didn't have their day to be enshrined. As the Shoeless Joe Jackson historian Mike Nola said " Joe Jackson didn't care about the Hall of Fame, he's more famous on the outside of the Hall of Fame than he ever would be in it." So maybe that's the mentality these guys can use as well, perhaps 100 years from now, someone will talk about Barry Bonds being more famous because he isn't there.

That's it for the week. Remember you are entitled to your opinion on these matters and it's probably a valid point. But also remember to celebrate for the guys who get in, like Larry Walker who was so far away but put up so many good numbers the last 3 years he made a huge leap in votes. Hit me up on twitter @derekbredeson and let's hash it out.