Baseball purist and historians are a club. Only the elite are welcome. It’s a very old fashioned way of thinking and it has to change. I am planning on writing a piece about some of the rules I think baseball should change to make it relevant in the world of 2021 in the spring. Today however, I want to delve into issue over no one getting into the Hall of Fame for the 2021 class and in particular Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens again being left out. Lastly, how things must change immediately in the thought process of the baseball writers of America in their voting habits.
Our hearts were brought back into great game of baseball in 1998 after a strike in 1994 hurt the games reputation and popularity. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa took the country by storm in their pursuit of Roger Maris homerun record of 61. McGwire would hit 70 and Sosa 66, both would obliterate the 37 year old record. McGwire would hit four homeruns in the last two games of the season to pass Sosa with number 70 coming in his last at bat of the season. I remember being a 15 year old kid from Scottsdale Arizona watching every single game on the highlight shows and when their games would be televised. I couldn’t get enough of it, that was what everyone at school and around the neighborhood would talk about. Even my mother was engaged in it, and trust me my mom barely knows more about baseball than my dogs do. With the youtube, twitter world of 2021 social media would have exploded with the home run chase. This would be exactly what baseball would need right now to reinvigorate a game that has lost some of it’s luster and lore.
McGwire’s record would only last three years in this new era of the home run. In 2001 Barry Bonds would hit 73 homeruns to beat McGwire’s all time record. Barry Bonds in 2001-2004 would have the four best seasons of all time (Babe Ruth may say hold my cigar and beer). Listen to these OPS numbers, in 2001 Bonds OPS was 1.379, 2002 it went up to 1.381, 2003 it dropped to a sad 1.278, then in 2004 Bonds OPS was a staggering 1.422. Bonds had an on base percentage of .609 in 2004. Bonds was intentionally walked 120 times that season. Only three players (Jose Abreu, Todd Helton and Lance Berkman) all tied with 127 walks even beat and just they barely beat Bonds 120 intentional walks for that season. To put this in perspective if you don’t include Juan Soto’s 1.187 OPS in a shortened 60 game season in 2020, the highest OPS season by a player since Bonds 04 campaign was Bryce Harper’s 2015 season when he had an OPS of 1.109. That’s a whopping .313 OPS less then Bonds 2004 season and not even in the vicinity of any Bonds season in that four year run. Bonds was already a hall of fame worthy player but these four years when Bonds was in his late thirties was a thing of legend.
Roger Clemens was a flamethrowing demon early in his career with the Red Sox. Clemens would win three cy youngs with the Red Sox (86, 87,91) and appear certain for Cooperstown. But in the mid 90’s with Clemens in his mid 30’s it appeared he was on the decline. The decline would culminate in 1996 with Clemens having a 10-13 record and a respectable but not elite ERA of 3.63. Clemens would sign with the Blue Jays in the offseason on a nice sized four year deal but what appeared to be a ploy to the Blue Jays fanbase that they were trying to win. The Blue Jays did not win but Clemens sure did! A more fit and focused Clemens would win two cy young awards in a row going 21-7 and 20-6 with 2.05 and 2.65 ERA’s respectively. Clemens would go on to win another two cy youngs with the Yankees in 2001 and the Astros in 2004 at the age of 42. Clemens would pitch until he was 45 retiring after the 2007 season without ever showing any decline until his very last season with the Yanks.
What would bring all of these accomplishments down in a blaze of glory was in 2005 when former A’s (and half of the rest of baseball’s teams) slugger Jose Canseco was taking steroids and Mark McGwire was one of his accomplices in Canseco’s tell all book. This would open the flood gates where baseball would have their own investigation called the Mitchell Report. Roger Clemens, Bonds, and McGwire would be on the report. Sammy Sosa was not on the report but his body transformation from early in his career to his prime and links to steroid use would make Sosa guilty by association. There would be 89 players named in the Mitchell Report overall and would put a stain into baseball. So now 15 years later how do we look at these purposed cheaters of the game?
Baseball is a game that has always welcomed some forms of cheating. Stealing signs is a shame on you not shame on me code. Unless you use technology like the 2017 Astros did en route to a World Series trophy. Even with that happening I don’t see an asterisk anywhere in the record books or any players getting suspended or barred from the league. Pete Rose would gamble on baseball while being a player manager with the Reds. Rose would get banned from baseball for life for his crimes. Rose even with the most hits in baseball history (4,256) is still not in the hall. All the way back in 1919 the White Sox were intentionally throwing away games for financial gain in the loss to the Reds in four games. What all this boils down to is maybe baseball needs a systematic change as with the Astros recent sign stealing scandal and lack of accountability shows that the mentality of cheat at all cost is still amongst this great game.
For Bonds, Clemens and Pete Rose not to be in the Hall of Fame is ridiculous. Baseball is too high on themselves and it’s glaringly obvious. I know the counterargument is that some of the other greats of this time Ken Griffey Jr and Randy Johnson for example did it without ever the suspicion of steroid use. But even before the alleged use Bonds and Clemens were going to the hall anyways. Just look at their accomplishments before the age of 35 which was around the time when the use of steroids came into play. Bonds was dominating pitchers who used and Clemens were dominating hitters who used. You cannot have your cake and eat it too baseball. In regards to Pete Rose, he should never be allowed to be a part of an organization ever again for his crimes. But his accomplishments alone is hall of fame worthy. My proper assumption is that a bookie never helped Pete Rose get a single hit or steal a single base.
With McGwire, Sosa and Bonds all time homerun records show is that these accomplishments are still viewed upon the baseball historians but complete accomplishments are not. Baseball wants to reap the benefits that the summer of 98 brought to get baseball back into our hearts but don’t want to reward the players who got you there. Baseball needs a lot of changes to get out of the stoneage and into today’s society. But first they need to acknowledge what happened wholly and not just the good parts. When cheaters beat cheaters is it really cheating? Baseball needs to be progressive and proactive moving forward. This is a beautiful game and can be beautiful again. But until baseball get’s out of it’s own way, the average 25 years old is going to watch European soccer over baseball every day that ends in Y. Take a look in the mirror baseball, it’s not a me problem it’s a you problem.