OT: No One Elected to the Hall?

[h2oya311]

Excluding the announcers, with the three most recent inducties, we'll have an even 300 HOFers. It would be nice to lock it in there at 300 and add no more. Seriously, adding more will simply make me broke (see my collection focus). That said, I 100% agree that Biggio and Piazza will be enshrined this summer bringing the total to 302. I'm hoping the others on the ballot get at least one year to wallow in self-mysery, like time-out for a toddler.

It feels like the "REAL" HOF is comprised of those that made it into the Hall the first year they were eligible via BBWA, well, at least in the last few decades. Clemens and others, if they get in, will have to be "second-ballot" HOFers, which is like a lower class HOF.

The American way of "innocent until proven guilty" makes this whole process very difficult, since most players have never been proven guilty of taking PEDs, there have only been rumors of guilt. Since we'll never "know" who took PED's during the era, do we actually assign a "guilty until proven innocent" mantra? I doubt it. Suspicion of PED-use cannot dictate whether or not a player gets in, in my opinion. Then again, it's the BBWA that decides, so I'm guessing that I'd be a minority if I were a voter.

[Peter_Spaeth]

How many players in the Hall used amphetamines in the "Ball Four" days?

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

How many players in the Hall used amphetamines in the "Ball Four" days?

LOL, pretty much all of them, including Mays, Aaron and Mantle.

[CMIZ5290]

I know it's a long shot, but I would love to see Dale Murphy get in. Yes, his stats are not as good as others, but his character and integrity are second to none.

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

I know it's a long shot, but I would love to see Dale Murphy get in. Yes, his stats are not as good as others, but his character and integrity are second to none.

+1

[insidethewrapper]

I didn't know steroids improved your eyesight and eye-hand coordination. You still have to hit the ball. Besides, it wasn't ever against any rules back then. Nothing was in place. I'm not saying it was right , but it wasn't against the rules. The best of that era should still get into the HOF.

Gaylord Perry actually cheated against the rules and he is in !
Players use Ritalin to concentrate better, and eye surgery to see better. Didn't Tiger Woods have lasik to improve to 20/10 eyesight. Doesn't this give these players an advantage making contact with the ball ! Why is it OK to improve by these means and not others ?

[Peter_Spaeth]

I bet these numbers are low because some guys didn't respond truthfully. But it's football, so we don't care.

"In a survey that guaranteed confidentiality, 2,552 former pro football players answered questions on their use of performance-enhancing steroids and the musculoskeletal injuries they suffered during their playing years.

Among the ex-players, 9.1 percent said they had used steroids, with certain categories of players more likely to report using the drugs. For example, 16.3 percent of offensive linemen admitted using steroids, as did 14.8 percent of defensive lineman.

The high-water mark for steroid use occurred in the 1980s, when about one in every five players, 20.3 percent, said they had tried the drugs. Use declined in the 1990s and beyond to 12.7 percent of players, the researchers reported."

[Jlighter]

Nate Silver weighs in on the issue.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes...a-out-of-hall/

[David W]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I didn't know steroids improved your eyesight and eye-hand coordination. You still have to hit the ball. Besides, it wasn't ever against any rules back then. Nothing was in place. I'm not saying it was right , but it wasn't against the rules. The best of that era should still get into the HOF.

Gaylord Perry actually cheated against the rules and he is in !
Players use Ritalin to concentrate better, and eye surgery to see better. Didn't Tiger Woods have lasik to improve to 20/10 eyesight. Doesn't this give these players an advantage making contact with the ball ! Why is it OK to improve by these means and not others ?

One of the big benefits of steroids is to help in the healing process or to mask minor injuries. I was prescribed steroids for 3 months last Feb/March/April hoping to heal my ankle, which ultimately did not work as I eventually tore the tendon on the outside in half.

But what did happen is after that shot in the tendon, within 6-8 hours, I felt completely healthy, with no limitations on activity.

So if you were a ball player with a slight injury you could take a steroid shot, perhaps at first legally prescribed by a doctor, and then later illegally and you feel 100%. This would be a huge benefit somewhere around game 100 in July for a ball player.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

LOL, pretty much all of them, including Mays, Aaron and Mantle.

I suppose they only enabled performance, not enhanced it. I get it.

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I suppose they only enabled performance, not enhanced it. I get it.

I would think that any drug that enables performance, pretty much by definition, also enhances said performance. I'm glad you get it because I sure don't.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

I would think that any drug that enables performance, pretty much by definition, also enhances said performance. I'm glad you get it because I sure don't.

Maybe the writers can explain?

[novakjr]

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think there's too much money to be lost by NOT electing anyone new.. And the Hall of Fame IS a business. I think if everybody falls short, that the numbers may be fudged to make sure at least 1 BBWAA player is elected. I also suspect that this also may have happened before. I think that a case could be made for Dawson, Gossage, and Sutter possibly fitting this category. They were all VERY borderline and questionable inductions, who coincidentally were inducted in years in which the BBWAA would've otherwise elected no one..

Unless, they're willing to let a statement be made, and force change in the voting process.

Whether it be legitimately, or conspiratively, I think at least Biggio gets in this year..

[Iron Horse]

If Bonds and Clemens get in then you need to get Pete Rose, and Shoeless in there since what they did in my opinion is no where as damaging then what Bonds, Clemens...did to the game. It's one thing to go from hitting a home run once every 17 at bats to one every 7 at bats and looking like did. As someone said last night on the MLB network, PED's are the nuclear weapons of all the drugs ever used in baseball.
I think Aaron's record along with Marris should still be the records that count.
Happy collecting