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...with arguably the best class of first-time eligible players. Is the Hall still relevant to the game of baseball? Does it still belong to the fans, or is it a symbolic moral high-ground for sportswriters and a few veterans of the game?
When did it ever belong to the fans? The HoF is a privately operated museum which was launched for the purpose of bringing tourist dollars to Cooperstown, NY.
The owners of that museum enlisted then BBWA to serve as the selection arm and issued six guidelines, three of which had to do with good sportsmanship and personal character.
Now those voters are trying to cope with the fallout from a widespread scandal involving poor sportsmanship and dishonorable personal character.
It is a mess and will remain a mess for some time to come. There is no satisfactory solution.
Craig Biggio for openers. It looks to me that because he played in the steroid era that he is automatically guilty as far as the selection committee is concerned. And to my knowledge his name has never been mentioned regarding steroids. He only finished his career with 3060 hits. Denying barry Bonds and Roger Clemens I get. I expected that. I don't get Craig Biggio. IIRC the last time this has happened since 1996 ( I think.)
Granstander is right. It IS a mess. And a disgrace to boot.
Craig Biggio for openers. It looks to me that because he played in the steroid era that he is automatically guilty as far as the selection committee is concerned. And to my knowledge his name has never been mentioned regarding steroids. He only finished his career with 3060 hits. Denying barry Bonds and Roger Clemens I get. I expected that. I don't get Craig Biggio. IIRC the last time this has happened since 1996 ( I think.)
Granstander is right. It IS a mess. And a disgrace to boot.
Same for Mike Piazza, who to my knowledge, was never named or even rumored to be a 'roider. It's almost as if the BBWAA felt if they couldn't induct the two best guys on the ballot, they weren't going to induct the third- & fourth-best either.
Biggio and Piazza failed to gain admission as a consequence of the math, not because they were being lumped in with the known roid users.
Because Clemens, Bonds and Sosa were on the ballot, and the first two did draw at least 33% support, and because there were numerous holdover candidates (Morris, Bagwell, Raines) who were also drawing votes, the voting became so widespread that no one emerged with the needed 75%. Had those others not been on the ballot, then it seems very likely that both Piazza and Biggio would have been inducted this year.
It will be worse next year when Maddox and Glavine are added to the mix.
IIRC, 3,000 hits, in the modern era, pretty much guarantees a player a first year invitation to the HOF. Biggio's problem, imo, is that he's been tagged guilty by association (Bagwell and Clemens).
Honestly, I do not think he has been tainted or made guilty by association. As was mentioned, it is a numbers game. Enough voters still felt Bonds and Clemens were 1st time ballot hall of famers, that it ate up a lot of the votes that could have gotten Biggio or others elected.
Honestly, I am not sure Biggio is up to the typical standard of a first ballot hall of famer anyway (which is not a slight on him, his career numbers are hall worthy)
In this era, you get the good with the bad. It's never fair, especially when a player isn't caught up in that steroid thing. At the same time, and Craig Biggio pointed this out at his Houston press conference, the Hall of Fame should be hard to get into. Period. Even Biggio said that he doesn't think that the voting process should be changed.
So, let's see what happens next year with Biggio and the 2014 first ballot candidates (Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, and Greg Maddux), along with Jeff Bagwell. The two former Astros deserve to be in there and ought to go in together.
And I still can't believe that Dale Murphy hasn't been voted in already. That is not right.
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