Regular
visitors to Fenwaynation will all agree that I’m no baseball genius – I often
have to ask someone to explain things to me and today is no exception. This year’s Hall of Fame voting results
have just been released by the venerable Internet Baseball Writers’ Association
of America (of which I am privileged to hold membership) and to this Internet Baseball
Writer, one result is quite surprising – Barry
Bonds received almost 51% of the vote.
Pardon
me?
The
Baseball Writers’ Association has a charter and that charter lists the rules
for Hall of Fame selection – Rule 5 simply states: Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability,
integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which
the player played.
Winstrol
notwithstanding, it can’t be denied that Bonds possessed significant playing
ability and it is a fact that he amassed some impressive stats, (including the single
season home run record) – and all this crowned by what should have been a most joyous
occasion throughout the baseball world – the Career Home Run Record. But this is not his legacy – nor should
it be – the manner in which he attained those hallowed milestones has
irreversibly damaged the game and I would expect that any right-thinking writer
or analyst couldn’t help but recognize that fact. Yet, Bonds has received a not-insignificant proportion of the
IBWAA vote his first time out and this confuses me.
Take
another look at Rule 5. Right
after ability, you’ll see integrity and sportsmanship. In January 2007, it was
reported that Bonds had tested positive for amphetamines. Under MLB’s weak-kneed amphetamines
policy, which had only been in effect for a year, anyone testing positive would
be required to submit to an additional six tests and undergo counseling. When
Bonds was made aware of his test results, his immediate reaction was to blame
the whole unsavory mess on a teammate – he asserted that the test results
must’ve come from a substance he’d taken from the locker of his fellow Giant,
Mark Sweeney. And even though
Bonds later retracted this claim and apologized to Sweeny, it speaks volumes
about the man’s integrity – or lack thereof. Incidentally, this is the same guy who withdrew his
membership from the MLB Players’ Association licensing agreement, believing he
could make more money elsewhere.
He is, to date, the only player to do this.
I’m sure
that Bonds apologists – if they exist – would argue that cheating has existed
in baseball pretty much since the Elysian Fields. And that’s true - cheating
has even been tolerated to a certain extent, but as far as this writer is
concerned, there can be no reasonable comparison between spitballs and
sandpaper and The Cream and The Clear.
I’ve been privileged to visit the Hall
of Fame on several occasions and each time, I’ve been mightily impressed with
the reverence applied to the true heroes of America’s Game. There now exists a tenuous, yet
tenacious connection between Hall-worthy achievement and the recorded feats of
those who used drugs. Enshrinement
of Barry Bonds – indeed, of any player tainted by the steroid era will only
serve to strengthen that nexus and weaken the prestige of the National Baseball
Hall of Fame, not to mention the Game itself. And for this baseball fan, that would be a catastrophe, made
all the more tragic by being completely avoidable. If it eventuates that Bonds does do well on the ballot, I would hope that those journalists who
understand and appreciate Integrity and Sportsmanship will ask some hard,
unvarnished questions of their voting colleagues. Because, sportsfans, this is one issue
that will not simply fade away.
