Two Men Out & One In HOF, Whiff of Black Sox Scandal

As Bonds & Clemens were blocked from MLB’s Hall of Fame for steroid stain ala Rose & Jackson were for other damnable sins, maybe it’s time to change induction criteria to just on field stats & asterisk their human failings.

As the WSJ noted, “the failure of Bonds & Clemens to win enshrinement to Cooperstown serves as a powerful rebuke of the faces of baseball’s Steroid Era” as voters decided for the 10th time that they “would not overlook the superstars’ connection to performance-enhancing drugs.” Yet, the ever-popular David Ortiz was inducted despite a more tenuous connection to steroids. Did Bonds & Clemens and their more abrasive personalities play a role in the umpires’ final call? Ditto for Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Rose & One of Eight Men Out Shoeless Joe Jackson?

Dunno. This bat nicknamed “Ethics” has always been too heavy for me to swing. On the one hand, the Titan-like stats and stats alone of Bonds, Clemens, Rose & Shoeless speak for themself or don’t they? (Even nation-builder King David sits in Heaven right now despite some grim picadilloes.) On the other hand, the holy game of baseball itself means nothing if it has no credibility thanks to cheating. Should there have been a way to get these blemished guys into the HOF yet call out their rumored, suspected, proven, admitted, denied wrongdoings?

Davd Soul