Hall of Fame Poll: Mark McGwire

what a joke

Comparing to Baseball’s blunders, the nomination of Silvester Stalone to the Boxing HOF makes a great deal of sense…

Did you know he’s getting in this year?

All that is true. But my answer is: If you knew you were cheating and still decided to do it, then yes you’re disqualified. even if “everybody did that” (and it’s never everybody…)

for me Mac is a pretty clear no. He hit some serious injuries in his late 20s-early 30s and has admittedly used PEDs to get his career back on track. In fact, according to his own confession he was using as early as 1989. While it’s definitely possible that he could’ve had a HoF career naturally, that’d require some serious benefit of the doubt that I’m not willing to give under the circumstances.

Clemens is closer. A lot of people think he started using in Toronto, but by then he already arguably had a HoF worthy resume (including 3 Cys, 2 other times placing in the top 5, and being one of the only starting pitchers to ever win the MVP). I can’t stand the guy, but pretty clearly he was a HoFer with or without PEDs (though I suppose to some extent it depends on what his decline phase would’ve looked like) although the UPenn report found that his career demonstrated significant statistical anomalies in his performance in his 30s). Of course, that’s without regard to the "integrity," "character," and "sportsmanship" criteria, none of which I think are particularly exhibited by Clemens.

Assuming he came clean, even for selfish reasons, I might hold my nose and vote for him unless new information emerges to show that he was using in Boston. But to even consider voting for him he’d have to come clean first. I don’t know that Clemens will ever do that.

Finally, Bonds. He admitted to using (but claims he didn’t know what he was taking). According to Game of Shadows, which is pretty well sourced, he started using Winstrol in 1998 and he started working with Anderson shortly thereafter. Bonds turned 34 in 1998 when he allegedly started using, a year that most players, including Hall of Famers, are in clear decline. Instead, as we know, the opposite happened – he went from hitting a home run every 16 at bats to every 8 1/2. But even if you throw out his entire career after 1998, you’re still looking at a guy with a 164 career OPS+ (.290/.411/.556), 3 MVP awards, 300 more walks than strikeouts, and 411 homers and 445 steals. Even adjusting for a normal decline phase, it’s arguably still HoF worthy, though perhaps not.

  Again, Bonds would have to come clean before I’d consider voting for him and even then I’m not sure. Part of me feels like when you knowingly cheat for glory, you should forfeit any chance at special recognition for greatness. If I destroy or suppress evidence that tends to exculpate a defendant, I risk being disbarred and fired, no matter how great an attorney I am without regard to cheating. I certainly won’t be getting any achievement awards. And I don’t get to argue “I would’ve won the case anyway, it didn’t even really help.” Obviously the stakes are very, very different, but still. The other part of me knows that Bonds was one of the game’s greats, with or without PEDs. In a way that makes it sadder.