The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Writers’ Ballot could very well be the most fascinating and polarizing referendum in the museum’s history. This week, before the results are announced on January 25, The Post’s Ken Davidoff will break down the many issues and debates at play before revealing his ballot.
Rule 5 was once the Baseball Hall of Fame equivalent of a Brood X Cicada, appearing every 17 or so years to spark discussion about a specific candidate and their weaknesses before disappearing again.
Now Rule 5 is as ubiquitous as the mosquito. Thank you very much, steroids.
Rule 5, in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Election Rules, reads: “Voting shall be based on the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and his contributions to the team or teams in which the player has played. ”
It’s this trio of ‘integrity, sportsmanship and character’ (some overlap there) that has thrown the room into uncharted chaos, with this 2022 Writers’ Ballot destined to close some doors while opening others. . All of these doors lead directly to illegal performance-enhancing drugs, the issue that has defined this process since Mark McGwire became eligible in 2007, with many of his critics saying he lacked these three overlapping qualities and showed no hope. to subside.
Rather, time has only muddyed the waters, with the evolving rules of the game on performance-enhancing illegal drugs creating subclasses of suspects. Consider that a certain tier of players — headlined by Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, and Ivan Rodriguez — overcame whispers of illegal PED use due to a lack of evidence beyond eye testing (and raised eyebrows that followed) to gain the 75% support needed for election.
Let’s break down the other subclasses, none of which met that 75% threshold. Some players have raised hell enough to get into multiple groups; here, they’ve been assigned the demographic that arguably damns them the most.
Pre-test guys
McGwire, when he joined the Cardinals coaching staff in 2010, admitted he used steroids during his season-record home run (70) in 1998. He hadn’t done particularly well before that. disclosure, reaching 23.7% in ’10 (doubts loomed over both the authenticity of his accomplishments and their value) and did even worse over the next six years, also coming in small in a committee tally of today’s era of gaming.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens came on board in 2013 and saw their votes shift virtually – Bonds hit a new high last year at 61.8%, Clemens at 61.6% – for good reason: the two all-time greats both saw government agents capture their alleged suppliers, though federal authorities were still unable to convict either legend. This year marks their last chance on writers’ voting.
Sammy Sosa, also on his last chance, peaked last year at 17%, a long way from the induction. He reportedly failed his 2003 investigative test, but perhaps his most telling moment occurred when he pretended not to speak English proficiently during the infamous 2005 congressional hearings on DEPs. illegal in baseball.
Gary Sheffield said in 2004 that he had unknowingly used “the cream”, an illegal BALCO-made PED given to him by Bonds during the 2001-02 offseason. It jumped to 40.6% last year and has three years to go.
Andy Pettitte confirmed the Mitchell report’s findings that he used human growth hormone in 2002 and later admitted to using it again in 2004, when players were tested for steroids but not for HGH. It climbed to 13.7% last year, its third year on the ballot.
The failed tests
Rafael Palmeiro became the first high-profile victim of the era of testing, which began in 2004, when a sample from 2005 came back positive. He only lasted four years on the ballot, his 4.4% in 2014 falling below the 5% needed to stay on the ballot.
When Manny Ramirez failed a test in 2011, it was his third skirmish with illegal PEDs, as he reportedly tested positive in the 2003 investigation and was suspended in 2009 for a non-analytical positive result. This will be his sixth ballot.
The Non-Analytical Positive
A non-analytical positive result is a conviction with evidence not taken from the actual drug test. That’s how Major League Baseball caught Alex Rodriguez in 2013, thanks to text messages between him and Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch, which Bosch provided and verified. A-Rod also admitted to using illegal PEDs with Rangers from 2001 to 2003 and allegedly failed the 2003 survey test. A-Rod is a newbie to this dance and has around 40% support in the public ballot according to Ryan Thibodaux.
2003 Survey Trials
David Ortiz presented most of his numbers at the time of the tests and never came back positive… except during this 2003 investigative test, which was used as a benchmark to determine if the disciplinary tests were necessary (c was) and meant to be anonymous. The slugger claimed his innocence, and commissioner Rob Manfred also defended Ortiz, saying his result could have been a false positive. Ortiz, joining A-Rod as a freshman on the ballot, started strong and could be elected on his first try, which would be a milestone for those tied to illegal PEDs.
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