So, it’s official.
Mark McGwire’s alleged steroid use and his pitiful performance during the Congressional steroid hearings on St. Patrick’s Day of 2005 cost him dearly when it came to Baseball Hall of Fame votes.
McGwire received a paltry 23.5 percent of 545 ballots cast, two of which were left completely blank. A player needs 75 percent to be inducted, so it is becoming clear that he has little or no chance of being voted in anytime soon – if ever.
Congratulations certainly go to Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn for their election. The two writers decided to not vote for any player from the “steroid era” until Major League Baseball addresses the issue in a serious manner.
I guess they, like many of us, have no faith in the George Mitchell investigation.
But that means that Ripken and Gwynn were not unanimous selections.
Ripken was on just more than 98.5 percent of ballots and Gwynn got support from 97.6 percent of voters.
Their respective careers make them more than qualified for Cooperstown. But they were far from perfect.
This is not to put them on the same level of surliness and/or selfishness as a McGwire or Barry Bonds. But both men had their moments.
I personally saw Gwynn snap at some senior autograph seekers at a Gold Glove Banquet in New York.
I personally saw Ripken chafe at the suggestion that his consecutive games-played streak was hurting him late in his career and also hurting the Baltimore Orioles.
Both men were unacceptably quiet when asked about McGwire’s candidacy and the entire steroid debate.
While at Baseball Weekly, I had an on-going debate over the fact that Ozzie Smith was a better shortstop then Ripken. There were actually some who said he was better than the Wizard was defensively. Yes, totally ridiculous, but some famed columnists believed this folly.
As a result, I never was the biggest Ripken fan.
Then – because of rainouts, strikes and shortened seasons – Ripken set the record on Sept. 6, 1995, which was my 35th birthday. So we’re forever linked.
But getting back to McGwire, it is clear that at least one other player will also have a tough time being voted into the Hall of Fame. That, of course, will be Barry Bonds. If Bonds plays one more season, he would be eligible in 2012. He will almost certainly be the game’s all-time home run hitter. He can boast that he reached the 500 home run-500 stolen base plateau long before the “steroid era.”
He was a Gold Glove outfielder, a multiple MVP winner and a guy who helped two franchises – Pittsburgh and San Francisco – step up from mediocrity to World Series contenders.
A case can be made that Bonds is deserving and should be voted into the Hall. In fact, several surveys of voters show that Bonds has more support at this time than McGwire. In six years, who knows how voters and fans might feel about a Bonds’ induction?
The latest maneuver by the feds to gain access to the 100 players who failed steroid tests more than two years ago will probably end up being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. As anxious as many a Bonds hater is to see his name on that list, my guess is that he “passed” that test. That’s not to say he wasn’t on a myriad of whacked-out performance enhancers, but if he tested “clean” and he is not on the offender list, this works in his favor.
I’m not surprised that McGwire had such a poor showing. I’ll be surprised, but not shocked, if Bonds were to be elected.
Time is on Bonds’ side.
Time ran out for McGwire.
