My thoughts on no one entering this year's baseball’s Hall of Fame.
by rick olivares
pic from uticaod.com
When former National League President
Bart Giamatti suspended Pete Rose for shoving umpire Dave Pallone during a
Cincinnati Reds-New York Mets game at Riverfront Stadium in a game in 1988, he
also berated the television analysts –Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall – for
“their unacceptable behavior in inciting the fans” who threw debris on the
field during the game.
Now I am not a Cincinnati Reds fan although
I did loosely follow the Big Red Machine in those replays on Armed Forces TV. It
was largely because of Pete Rose (and later Paul O’Neill who would move to the
Yankees where he was a major part of their 1990s dynasty) that I checked on the
Reds. And yes, they did have a very controversial owner in Marge Schott so who
didn’t check on her latest comments that would shock the crap out of everyone.
Giamatti’s comments during his censure
of Brennaman and Nuxhall left a lasting impression on me – “Nothing justifies
(such) unprofessional behavior”.
Are there no ifs and buts about that
line?
I cannot even begin to pretend I know.
I followed Rose more than the Reds
because there’s something about a player when he’s nicknamed “Charlie Hustle”
and becomes baseball’s all-time hits leader.
When Giamatti became MLB commissioner
replacing Peter Ueberroth (who I first knew about for making the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics the first profitable Olympics in history) in 1989, he pursued
the allegations that Rose had bet on baseball that is a direct violation of the
game’s statutes.
The Dowd Report, named after John Dowd
who investigated the betting scandal, found Rose guilty. Charlie Hustle
admitted to betting on games but not against the Reds although Dowd believed
otherwise. There was no proof against Rose betting against the Reds but mere
suspicion that he did.
It didn’t help that Rose served time
(five months) in prison for filing fraudulent tax returns.
Then Rose was banned from the baseball
Hall of Fame; something that stands to this day.
I got to see Pete Rose a long time ago
in New York where he was signing autographs for fans. The line was rather long
and I decided not to fall in. Besides, I am not into signatures but more of
photographs.
At the time that Rose bet on games, he
was the Reds’ manager and in a capacity to influence games by his line-up,
substitutions, decisions on the batting order, how to play a batter or pitcher.
Rose is the game’s all-time hits
leader and it’s a damn shame that he is not in Cooperstown. But I keep thinking
back to Giamatti’s comments: “Nothing justifies unprofessional behavior”.
And when I look at how the Baseball
Writer’s Association of America’s decision not to elect Barry Bonds, Roger
Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mike Piazza to the Hall then I,
like everyone else, is in a quandary. For the second time in 42 years, no one
is going to be enshrined save for one baseball writer. So the writers made it
about the writers. It’s not so bad because they perform a check and balance.
How is it possible that the all time
home run king who is Barry Bonds, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner who is
Roger Clemens, the man who broke Roger Maris’ single season home run record who
is Mark McGwire, and the man who has hit the most 60-plus home runs seasons who
is Sammy Sosa are not in the Hall of Fame?
Sure. They cheated, right? They used
performance enhancing drugs to reach those milestones. Some were not indicted
for OJ Simpson like loopholes but the fact of the matter is their
accomplishments are there.
I have always wondered if Major League Baseball is just as culpable in this. In this era,
they never came out and said it was wrong to use PEDs and they certainly never
put in measures to stop it. Instead they celebrated that summer home run record
chase while the media wrote about these glorious seasons and achievements.
It was only when Barry Bonds finally
retired that people got a reality check and said, “Wow, we’ve seen a string of
seasons where seemingly untouchable and unbreakable records were broken” then
went after these players.
If they were guilty then why are their
records still intact and not stricken from the official record book? Why has
baseball not taken back titles and championships? Why isn’t baseball’s
leadership taken to task for this?
Why? Because it’s a mess. To do so we
render everything that has happened in the last 20 years almost meaningless. You
know like how the NCAA decided that Penn State’s wins didn’t amount to anything
at the time that Jerry Sandusky was allowed to run unchecked with his garrulous
ways. Like how Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France titles were taken away.
The full scope of those who used
steroids will never be known. The witch hunt is deplorable in the light of how
MLB and the media allowed it to happen.
So do I think that Rose, Bonds, and
company belong to Baseball’s Hall of Fame?
Let me answer the question with
another question -- Is Cooperstown lily white clean?
Not at all. You have people in there
for corked bats, racists, convicted drug addicts, and people who presided over
segregation etc. It’s an imperfect Hall of Fame in an imperfect world.
Now once and for all, MLB and the
custodians of Cooperstown ought to sit down and discuss this thoroughly. When
they arrive at a conclusion, then we can abide with what the decision is for
better or worse.
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