Bonds is in his 10 and final year of eligibility and if he doesn’t get 75% of the votes, he will be left with only one hope, the Veterans Committee. The latter occasionally select former players who they believe have been unfairly dismissed.
The non-accountability of Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame has left us in this mess. Journalists called to vote have never had a guideline. What to do with players who tested positive, players suspected of having been doped and players who had their names mentioned in the Mitchel report at the time? No direction was given.
So the media votes as they see fit. Some take doping into consideration, some don’t. The system therefore does not hold water at all. It becomes anything.
Why is Bud Selig in the Temple?
What adds insult to injury is that the commissioner at the time himself, Bud Selig, entered the Temple through the front door. No one disputed his involvement in the scandal. The reality is that Selig endorsed the use of steroids in baseball.
In an effort to ensure his sport’s popularity and good ratings, Selig turned a blind eye to the issue. He knew very well what was going on. The reality is that MLB and the players’ association have driven players into self-cannibalization, forcing them to dope in order to compete.
As a former Expos player told me:
“If I don’t, who is going to protect me? How am I going to compete with everyone else? If I lose my position and go back to the minor leagues, who will take care of my family? I don’t want to do it, but I have no choice. »
At the time, and still today, there is a huge gap between the salaries awarded in the MLB and those at the AAA level. While top level players are breaking the bank, minor league players are practically starving.
But rather than thinking about the health of his players, then-players’ association president Donald Fehr preferred to shout from the rooftops that it was unfair to ask players to be tested, as it contravened right to privacy. Fehr used scouting as a bargaining tool.
Meanwhile the owners lined the pockets of the most successful players, much to the delight of the players’ association.
I’m not afraid to say it, Selig and Fehr should have gone to jail for what they did. But on the contrary, one of them is in the Hall of Fame and the other is the head of the NHL players’ association.
This leaves Hall-eligible players to bear the full burden of humiliation in this black epic of baseball.
Who should enter?
If I had to decide, I would ask the journalists to vote notwithstanding the history of doping. For me, the blame falls much more on those who had control of the rules. I would also allow doped players who have been eliminated from the process to re-enter it.
There are basic rules which in my opinion must persist. A player having slammed 3000 hits or 500 homers should enter with their eyes closed. A pitcher with 250 wins or 3,000 strikeouts, same thing.
