Kuzul

Oh, Roger.

Love him or hate him, the news that Roger Clemens is being (it is hard to even type it out) indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs is down-right depressing.

There was a time when the baseball viewing public was being forced to ask themselves:

“Could Roger Clemens be ready to surpass Walter Johnson as the greatest pitcher of all time?”

As we watch Roger’s reputation and celebrity get flushed down the toilet, perhaps the biggest question surrounding Roger now is:

“Could Roger Clemens be ready to surpass Pete Rose as the greatest fall from grace in baseball history?”

Or perhaps even:

“Is Roger Clemens now officially the biggest star who has no chance of going into the Hall of Fame?”

Let’s have a look.

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With the passing of Bobby Thomson Monday night (August 16), it brought to mind some of the players in MLB history who will NEVER get into the Hall of Fame, despite some legendary individual performances.

Thompson certainly is on that list, along with seven of his fraternity brothers.

What follows are the Top 8 Baseball Players Of Great Feats Who Will Never Get Into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Is Chipper Jones bound for Cooperstown?

Don’t answer just yet—think for a moment. No knee-jerk reactions because he did this or didn’t do that.

He is on the DL now, and his season is apparently over. Many think his career is over as well.

Larry Wayne “Chipper” Jones has had a fantastic 17 year career (thus far) with the Atlanta Braves. He is one of the now nearly extinct players to have done all their time in the same place.

It was clearly more frequent before Curt Flood raised the curtain on the quasi-slavery that the owners held over the players.

That 17-year tenure is exceptional, but obviously that alone doesn’t make one Hall of Fame worthy. Just ask Bernie Williams.

I personally love Jones and think he should be a first ballot walk-in. In fact, I rated him the second best Switch Hitter in the history of baseball.  But, I want to remain objective in this article and allow you to decide for yourselves after being shown the facts.

Let us examine his statistics

Only Mickey Mantle, Lance Berkman, and Roy Cullenbine (who?) have a higher career OBP (.405) among switch-hitters than Jones.

Frankie Frisch is the only switch-hitter in the history of MLB to have a higher career BA than Jones at .306. Another year like this one, and he will be forced, like Mickey Mantle, to watch his career average slip below the .300 mark.

He comes in third on the all-time HR list for switch-hitters, trailing only Mantle and fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Murray at 436, 37th among all players.

He trails Murray and Mantle in career RBI at 1491, 52nd on the all-time list.

In hits, he doesn’t fair quite as well, ranking 8th among switch-hitters with 2,490.

For you Sabermetic junkies, his WAR of 8o puts him behind only Mickey Mantle among switch-hitters, 36th overall. His career OPS+ of 142 is only eighth among active players.

How about awards?

He was MVP in 1999 when he batted .319 with 45 HR, 110 RBI, and 116 runs scored. He also won two Silver Slugger Awards.

In 2008, he won the National League batting title with an average of .364 and had the highest OBP in the league at .470

He was named to six All-Star teams.  In 20 post-season series, he has an average of .288/.411/.459 with 13 HR and 47 RBI.

I was actually surprised that he didn’t win more awards than he did, or lead the league in any more categories.

If you apply the yardstick of yesteryear to his numbers, he doesn’t quite make the grade. Don’t cuss me, just keep reading.

The number 500 used to be a barometer of which, if surpassed, would land you in the Hall of Fame. Of course, that no longer holds water. It didn’t mean you had to have 500, but anybody that did was enshrined. His 436 HR is anemic compared to others.

Another number is 1500 RBI. Again, he pulls in a little short.

Total hits required to get in used to be 3000. If you got 3000, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) keep you out. Nobody that hit safely 3000 times (and was eligible) was left out. He is well short of that mystic number as well.

In summary, has he done enough to land himself in the Hall of Fame? Forget the fact that he is a switch-hitter—I don’t believe they award extra points for that.

He never lead the league in HR, RBI, hits, runs, or anything other than BA, OPS, and OPS+.

The Baseball Writers Association of America needs some criterion developed for admittance. Whether they like a player or not, whether a player snubbed them their entire career or not should have no consequence on their fitness to be admitted into the Hall of Fame.

It is not a place for Altar Boys or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir unless they can play excellent baseball. What goes on outside the white lines should have NO bearing whatsoever on a players report when being evaluated for the Hall of Fame.

So, again I ask you—is Chipper Jones going to be enshrined in Cooperstown?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A few weeks ago, Bleacher Report’s MLB Featured Columnists celebrated the 2010 Hall of Fame inductions with a mock vote of our own to see who really belonged in Cooperstown. It became one of our most popular polls to date and was far and away the most hotly debated.

Last week, we did something similar, but with a twist: Instead of voting on players who are already retired, I took 10 current players who are nearing the ends of their careers and asked who among them would be worthy of Cooperstown if they all hung up their cleats tomorrow.

These aren’t sure-thing players like Chipper Jones or Derek Jeter, or guys like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez whose main obstacles to induction would be PEDs. They’re stars, but not legends—Jim Edmonds, Vladimir Guerrero, Todd Helton, Trevor Hoffman, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte, Scott Rolen, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, and Billy Wagner.

Included in each slide are the players’ vote totals (75 percent is required for induction, which means 18 votes here), and explanations from two different writers: one who voted for him and one who did not.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I hope this poll inspires as much debate as the last one did.

Note: I sent this survey only to the Featured Columnists who have been active in previous polls. If you are a new FC or you have changed your mind about wanting to participate, send me a message and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop for next time!

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This so-called “steroid era” in baseball has put more than a dark cloud over what used to be America’s Pastime. 

This dark steroid cloud came to a head this past weekend as another Hall of Fame class was inducted into Cooperstown.  As Andre Dawson entered the Hall of Fame, his speech was dissected down to one little piece:

“Individuals have chosen the wrong road and have chosen that as their legacy. Others still have a chance to choose theirs. Do not be moved to the dark side. It’s a stain on the game, a stain gradually being removed”

After I watched his 23-minute speech on TV, and the ESPN special that followed, I couldn’t help but wonder, myself, if we have seen the last legitimate inductee class. 

HOF voters have time and again said they would never vote in a player with connections to steroids.  With those connections becoming more evident as years pass, the superstars of the last decade may never be enshrined in gold. 

I turned off the television, discouraged that the players I grew up watching would probably never make it to Cooperstown. 

Then I saw something else.

Last night Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza threw a no-hitter. 

It was astoundingly the fifth no hitter of 2010.  Add another counting Armando Galarraga’s one-hit perfect game and that’s six.  Not to mention the countless other close calls this season.  Which leads me to my one and only major point of this article:

STEROID TESTING IN BASEBALL IS WORKING!

Yes, I will be the one who finally says it.  Those who continually dog baseball and the MLB for letting the steroid era happen can now take a back seat to the realization that in 2010 the game we all knew and loved is finally coming back.

Being a true fan of the game, I am happy to see this happen.  I will be the first to admit that baseball, to the casual fan, no longer possesses the same “sexy-ness” as before. 

Home runs are down, scoring is down, batting average is down, RBI, hits, slugging percentage, and the list goes on and on. 

However, the ERA is better, strikeouts are climbing, WHIP—for all you fantasy players—is better then it’s ever been.  The game is changing, and once again a player’s brain is outshining the opponent’s brawn. 

Boring, yes to some, but to others this is a beautiful thing.

The other side. 

Barry Bonds.  I feel like only in an article such as this can a name be considered a sentence and yet say so much. 

I will not bore you with my theories on the man with the exception of saying that while I do not agree with what he did or did not do in baseball, he still has to go down as one of the best (not the best mind you) home run hitters of all time. 

It does say something, though, that those who denied and denied steroid use (i.e. Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds) are no longer playing, while those who admitted (i.e. Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte) usage have calmly moved on playing the game. 

And while I tend to try to not listen to the banter that players say when talking about steroids, after watching Garza’s no-hit performance yesterday, one particular quote from Bonds stuck in my mind. 

“I don’t know if steroids are going to help you in baseball. I just don’t believe it.  I don’t believe steroids can help eye-hand coordination [and] technically hit a baseball.”

Barry Bonds stated those words in a 2005 interview.  I now wonder what he thinks today. 

In 2010, as pitching numbers skyrocket, more then just batting averages and ERAs are dropping. So are suspensions. 

This season only one player has been suspended for performance enhancing drugs.  Compare this to 12 in 2005 after Bonds made his infamous quote.  The writing is on the wall.  Steroids in the MLB are all but gone and the near half dozen no hitters this season prove it. 

Home runs are a dime a dozen .  I agree they are flashy and entertaining to fans. However, I would much rather watch history be made with nine innings of perfection.

Yes, we may never again see home run records broken, but watching a game that’s real and fair is a small price to pay for the simple pleasure that is regaining America’s Pastime. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I want you to ask yourself this, what Major League Baseball players deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Does Pete Rose deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? How about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, or Roger Clemens? Maybe even one day New York Yankess third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is on the eve of hitting home run No. 600?

While watching Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson give his speech after his induction into Cooperstown on Sunday, he said some things that struck a chord with me and became the inspiration for this article.

“Do not be lured by the dark side. It’s a stain on the game. A stain gradually being removed. But that’s the people, not the game. Nothing wrong with the game. There never has been,” Dawson said.

He then continued with, “Baseball will, from time to time like anything else in life, fall victim to the mistakes that people make. It’s not pleasant and it’s not right.”

However, the quote that made the most impact in my mind was, “Individuals have chosen the wrong road, and they’re choosing that as their legacy. Those mistakes have hurt the game and taken a toll on all of us.” 

Dawson was clearly taking a shot at all players who have been accused or have openly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while playing baseball.

Ironically, those comments were coming from a man who endured 12 knee surgeries over an impressive 21-year major league career; a man who was an eight-time All-Star, with 438 career home runs, 2,774 hits, 1,591 RBI, and 314 stolen bases.

Dawson also spoke highly of Pete Rose, but didn’t lobby for his induction to the Hall of Fame.

Rose has been permanently banned from baseball since 1989 and thus keeps him from being enshrined in the one place he deserves.

That’s right sports fans, Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame!

Pete Rose, aka Charlie Hustle, was the definition of a baseball player. Over his 23-year career, Rose was a three-time World Champion, 17-time All-Star (at five different positions: 2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B), two-time Golden Glove Award winner, 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and 1973 NL MVP. He also holds a record that in my mind may never be broken—4,256 career hits.

Rose, however, was deemed permanently ineligible by then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for allegedly betting on baseball games. He would later admit in his 2004 autobiography My Prison Without Bars that he did bet on baseball and other sports while he played for and managed the Cincinnati Reds. He also admitted that he bet on the Reds, but never bet against them.

Though Pete Rose may have bet on baseball games, including games he managed, he never cheated, something many of the great baseball players over the last decade have done.

Players such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens all have been linked to using performance-enhancing drugs. Among those players, only Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire have come forward and admitted that used medications that improved their play.

Last time I checked, anytime you use a substance that helps you enhance your performance would be considered…CHEATING!

Pete Rose isn’t a cheater. He never did anything to enhance his physical performance. 

This article isn’t solely about who has cheated and who hasn’t.

A professional baseball player’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame shouldn’t be determined solely on what records a player has broken, or what feats that player has accomplished, but what that player has given to the game of baseball itself. It needs to be about what that player has given to the fans of baseball as well.

Below are three outstanding baseball players, who have done wonderful things for the game of baseball, but because of their poor lack of judgement (i.e. Pete Rose) they too may never see the Hall of Fame. 

Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire was first eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2007. He can be remembered as one of the famous Bash Brothers (along with Jose Canseco) of the Oakland Athletics, McGwire broke the single season home run record for rookies in 1987 with 48 home runs. He was a 12-time All-Star, 1990 Gold Glove Award winner, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and the 1987 AL Rookie of the Year.

Eleven years later, in 1998, McGwire would gain national notoriety along with Sammy Sosa as they pursued the single season home run record the same way that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did in the summer of 1961.

Mark McGwire would finish the 1998 season with 70 home runs, nine more than Roger Maris hit in 1961.

However, McGwire’s amazing feat, toppling a record that stood for 37 years, would be tarnished by revelations that he used androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement supplement, in order to shorten the time needed to recover from the physical wear on his body.

Although he never admitted to using steroids during the 1998 season, McGwire would admit in 2010 that he had used steroids during his playing career.

Barry Bonds

Do Barry Bonds’s stats alone give him enough credibility to be voted in for the Hall of Fame? Yes. Will the BALCO scandal and steroids be his downfall? Absolutely!

During Barry Bonds’s 21-year career he was a 14-time All Star, eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and seven-time Most Valuable Player. He is also the single-season home run leader with 73 home runs, and is the career home run leader with 763 round trippers.

Bonds also had 2,935 career hits, 1,996 RBI, and 514 stolen bases.

His accomplishments alone should make him worthy of a first ballot induction to the Hall of Fame in 2013, however his involvement in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) may have tainted that.

Bonds was accused and indicted by a grand jury about his involvement with BALCO around the time he was chasing the single season and career home run records. Reports had been leaked on Bonds’s grand jury testimony contend that he admitted to unknowingly using “the cream” and “the clear” both being anabolic steroid supplements.

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens will also be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and his accolades and feats match that of Barry Bonds and then some. In his 23-year career, Clemens was a 11-time All-Star selection, seven-time Cy Young Award winner (having won the award in both American and National leagues), and the 1986 AL MVP.

Clemens is a member of the 300 win club, 3,000 strikeout club, 4,000 strikeout club, 300 wins-3,000 strikeout club, and in 1997 and ’98 won the pitching Triple Crown (wins, ERA, and strikeouts).

But, Clemens’s accomplishments will be marred by his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens’s former personal strength coach, Brian McNamee, came forward an admitted that he had injected Clemens with steroids during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 seasons.

Clemens was also mentioned in former US Senator George Mitchell’s report on steroid use in baseball 82 times; however Clemens still denies that he had ever used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.

In conclusion, I believe that if any one of these players, including Alex Rodriguez (who will probably hit 770 home runs, and openly admitted to use performance-enhancing drugs) should be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, that Pete Rose also be given a fair chance for reinstatement.

We all need to remember that baseball is a game a majority of us loved while growing up, and that all these youngsters who have dreams of one day making it to the Majors and maybe even the Hall of Fame will get there, with hard work and determination.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

History is littered with great center fielders, almost none of which have made the Hall of Fame.

Only seven center fielders have made it to Cooperstown via the traditional method (election by the Baseball Writers’ Association). Two of those elected are Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, who were elected in the first and second votes ever taken, respectively.

So, from the Hall’s third election on, only five center fielders have been voted in in the standard way. After third base, center field may be the most underrepresented position in the Hall of Fame.

Currently, the position of center field is in something of a state of flux. There seems to be a slight “new guard/old guard” movement going on.

As I compiled a list of players to cover, I noticed a definite split in age groups: players in their mid to late 30s with a good shot at enshrinement in Cooperstown, and players in their early 20s with their best years likely ahead.

In between that, there are some good players, but no one in the group remotely resembles anything near a Hall of Fame candidate (if you would like to argue that, say, Marlon Byrd or Aaron Rowand is a Hall of Fame candidate, feel free, but don’t expect me to take you seriously).

Admittedly, several recently retired center fielders have cases for election. Recent retiree Ken Griffey Jr. looks like a first-ballot lock. Kenny Lofton and Bernie Williams have both retired recently and may be better than you realize (especially in Lofton’s case).

However, I decided to only cover current players, and so I must leave these players out.

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is one shy of hitting the 600 home run mark.

He can hit 800 by the end of his career, but he won’t hit Cooperstown with the rest of baseball’s legends…ever.

This situation best relates with Mark McGwire, but even he wasn’t close to the required number of votes to get in the Hall of Fame.

He got 25 percent of votes, but players need 75 percent to get in. McGwire was maybe the most exciting hitter to see when he was in his prime, just like how A-Rod was in Texas, or when he’s chasing history.

But there’s going to be a time when you retire, and your stats might line up with the greatest of the greatest, and become eligible for the HOF.

There’s no reason to be eligible if you’ve taken steroids. Simply, 75 percent of the board won’t select you.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that he apologized and he admitted that he was “naive” during his interview after we baseball fans all found out.

Yes, I am aware that he only used them when he was with the Texas Rangers.

Yes, I am aware that A-Rod still had All-Star stats with the Seattle Mariners before he came to Texas.

But once you cheat in America’s pastime, there is no way of landing in Cooperstown.

I am a big Yankees fan, and I am not ashamed to cheer for A-Rod every at-bat.

But you can’t hide the fact that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

These days in Montreal, baseball fans have a reason to cheer for the very first time since the Expos left town to Washington D.C. to become the Nationals.

One of the greats in Expos history will be inducted finally into Cooperstown’s Hall of Fame. That is Andre “The Hawk” Dawson.

Next summer, another great city in Canada will probably have its turn at bat to celebrate. 

If the dream comes true this same time around next year in Toronto, it should be time to party to celebrate Roberto Alomar’s big moment.

That fantasy could be reality next December when members of the Baseball Writers Association of America will receive the ballots that list candidates eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

With all the historical and stat records furnished to them, and with their own perception of greatness to back up their judgement, there should be great hope also in his native Puerto Rico that the writers will finally consider his election.

His career records should have assured him of gaining the acceptance and earning his plaques in Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility.

However, for reasons with no real explanation he was snubbed by many baseball writers.

Roberto Alomar was one of the biggest stars and arguably the best second baseman in the history of the game.

He was a 12-time All-Star, 11 consecutive seasons from 1991-2001, in 17 major league seasons.

He won 10 Gold Gloves, the most by a second baseman ever. In his prime, he was doing everything right at second base as Ozzie Smith did at shortstop or Brooks Robinson at third base.

Going strictly by his offense, his numbers are Hall-of-Fame-worthy too.

He finished his career with a .300 batting average and among Hall of Fame comparisons he had more career hits and RBI than two other Hall of Fame second basemen—Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg.

Not enough?

In Alomar’s case, the most basic statistics should serve. Among all second basemen, Alomar ranks sixth in hits, seventh in runs scored, 10th in RBI. and fourth in steals.

When he called it quits, he was just 276 hits shy of 3,000 hits.

Among his hardware, let’s not forget he was an American League Championship Series MVP (1992), All-Star Game MVP (1998), two-time World Series member (1992, 1993), and a four-time Silver Slugger Award.

He was a three-time Toronto Blue Jays Player of the Year. 

The Blue Jays franchise inducted him into their Blue Jays Level of Excellence group, and Alomar was a two-time Cleveland Indians Player of the Year.

Hope next December the baseball writers get it right.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When Andre Dawson was announced as the sole member of the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class, it caused quite a stir, to say the least. After perhaps the most controversial balloting in recent memory, fans, and writers took to their keyboards to voice their frustrations.

How did Dawson, who played his last game in 1996, become more worthy of enshrinement in 2010 than he had been in 2009? Was one incident with an umpire enough to snub the legendary Roberto Alomar? Will Bert Blyleven ever catch a break?

Two days after the results were announced, I offered my solution to the problem: an end to secret ballots for Hall of Fame voting. I wanted to know why several deserving players were snubbed (especially Alomar, my childhood hero), while some idiot voters thought schmucks like David Segui and Eric Karros were worthy of sending to Cooperstown.

Thanks to Bleacher Report’s Featured Columnists (FC), my dream has been realized. This week’s poll was a mock Hall of Fame vote, with an participants who were happy to share (and explain) their opinions with the world.

The winner (we too elected only one player to Cooperstown, but it wasn’t Dawson) and the Top 10 also-rans are featured in this slideshow, each with two explanations from different FC’s: one from a voter who picked him, the other from someone who didn’t. The full vote totals are listed at the end.

As a reminder, players have to get 75 percent of the vote to earn a spot in Cooperstown—there’s no curve and you can’t round up.

With 22 people voting in this poll, a player had to be named on at least 17 ballots to earn immortality.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated! If you voted for someone who didn’t get enough support to be featured in the slideshow, I’d love to see your explanation in the comments.

Note: I sent this survey only to the Featured Columnists who have been active in previous polls. If you are a new FC or you have changed your mind about wanting to participate, send me a message and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop for next time!

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