Poll Results and Comments

Hey everyone, sorry for the infrequency of posts last week, my last semester of undergrad is coming to a close and is of course ending with a massive work load, so I haven't had as much free time as I would like to.
But anyway, here are the results from last weeks poll:


If you were a Hall of Fame voter, would peformance-enhancing drug allegations effect your voting "yes" on guys like Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire?
Yes, I wouldn't vote for them. 8 (61%)

No, I would vote for them based on their numbers. 2 (15%)

I am waiting to see how many other players from their generation turn out to be involved with PEDs to make a decision. 3 (23%)

Obviously, the overwhelming sentiment of the readers of this blog is to not let anyone who is associated with PEDs into the Hall of Fame. I can certainly see people's points in regard to this, especially because various things written about the Hall of Fame talk about how the players in it have upheld the integrity of the game. Certainly people who have done things to improve their numbers that were outside of the rules of baseball go against this. The problem is that the monitoring of steroids during that period were pretty horrible, and a lot of people would argue no actual rules were broken, especially those who used androtestosterone, which was not a banned substane according to the MLB.

It's also important to note that the official election rules for the Hall of Fame don't actually say anything regarding players who do something against the rules of baseball, but then again, it also doesn't say anything about certain types of numbers a guy would have to put up to be put into the Hall. Really, it's all just based on what the electors think, and I don't think there will ever be a rule that says guys who have been attatched to steroids can't be elected. If the electors change their mind about steroids (obviously they have a negative view of them right now because McGuire hasn't been able to get into the Hall) as a whole, guys who have been connected to steroids will get in. The only way guys like that can't be voted on for the Hall of Fame is if they are banned from baseball like Joe Jackson or Pete Rose (and Pete Rose is a whole other blog topic).

I was a little shocked to see so few say they would vote for them based on their numbers, although as I said, I certainly understand the sentiment. There are a fairly large number of baseball writers, such as Buster Olney and Peter Gammons, who try and distance themselves as much as possible from any emotional response they feel in looking at a player's career, and vote for them based purely on their numbers. Both of those men have voted for Mark McGuire every year he has been elligble.

I also thinks it reasonable to have voted that you would have to wait to see how many players turn out to be involved with PEDs. It would be pretty debilitating if guys like Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols turned out to be involved with them. And what about guys who are already in, like Cal Ripken, Jr.? I'm not saying I suspect either of these guys have been involved with them, I'd just like to point out that there was also a time where guys like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez were believed to be rare great players from the era who never used steroids. That all blew up last year.

Anyway, like last week (and it will be like this every week now) a new poll is up, so vote away!
Also, I'll hopefully be better about blog posts this week.