Site Admin
32. Sammy Sosa
Apr 22, 2012
Published in
Baseball
It has to be considered a given that the PED question has hurt many players in their quest for Cooperstown. It is very possible that anyone associated with it will fail to get elected and the Hall will be devoid of some of the game’s greatest record setters. Yet, of all the people whose careers got tarnished, we can’t help but wonder if Sammy Sosa took the biggest fall of them all.
2. Roger Clemens
Apr 22, 2012
Published in
Baseball
Couldn’t we just say look at the previous Barry Bonds entry and say “Ditto”? Seriously, the parallels are too great to ignore.
Like Bonds, Clemens may have had a Hall of Fame career before he allegedly took PEDs, and like Bonds, he dominated the steroid era as he did the decade before. He has the career statistics (353 wins and 4,672 strikeouts), the dominating seasons (seven Cy Youngs and an MVP), and two World Series Rings. “Rocket” Roger Clemens is arguably the best Pitcher in the past twenty-five years.
Like Bonds, Clemens may have had a Hall of Fame career before he allegedly took PEDs, and like Bonds, he dominated the steroid era as he did the decade before. He has the career statistics (353 wins and 4,672 strikeouts), the dominating seasons (seven Cy Youngs and an MVP), and two World Series Rings. “Rocket” Roger Clemens is arguably the best Pitcher in the past twenty-five years.
1. Barry Bonds
Apr 22, 2012
Published in
Baseball
You may have noticed many sportswriters who have a Hall of Fame ballot for the Baseball drink a little more these days. The PED question is now utterly unavoidable with the new wave of eligible candidates as the sport’s biggest stars of the last two decades are now eligible for Hall of Fame enshrinement.
It is not that our baseball list has not been controversial in the past. We have already put it through serious revisions when we initially created a “1a” and a “1b” to accommodate the fact that both Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson are ineligible for the Hall due to gambling. A thought crossed our mind to create a list of eligible players who were caught (or suspected) of using PEDs, but there is one fact that cannot be ignored: these players ARE eligible for the Hall of Fame, and as such we have elected to treat as an “era” of the sport.
It has been often said that Barry Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer before the period it is believed that he started taking Performance Enhancing Drugs. With excellent career numbers (both traditional and sabermetric) and three National League MVP Awards under his belt, the Cooperstown resume was already there. What has been speculated is that Bonds grew frustrated at the attention that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire received during their famous chase of Roger Maris’ single-season Home Run record and that had he done the same things (PED) that they did, he could have surpassed their levels. Whether or not that history is correct, Bonds’ already impressive numbers reached stratospheric levels, and he completely dominated the Steroid Era.
We don’t have to tell you all the statistics. A first look shows seven MVPs, the career Homer Run and Walks mark, and the top five career tallies in Runs, RBIs, WAR, and OPS, and that is without going into great depth. We also don’t have to tell you that Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro (others tainted with PEDs) have colossally failed to get the writer’s support for the Hall, and there is no evidence to show they will change their minds. However, the fact is that Barry Bonds was a better player than those two superstars and if any player from that era deserves to get in, it is Barry Bonds.
We would have no problem casting a vote for Bonds for the Hall of Fame if we were ever granted a ballot, as evidenced by his selection to the top of our list. We would however understand if you wouldn’t.
It is not that our baseball list has not been controversial in the past. We have already put it through serious revisions when we initially created a “1a” and a “1b” to accommodate the fact that both Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson are ineligible for the Hall due to gambling. A thought crossed our mind to create a list of eligible players who were caught (or suspected) of using PEDs, but there is one fact that cannot be ignored: these players ARE eligible for the Hall of Fame, and as such we have elected to treat as an “era” of the sport.
It has been often said that Barry Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer before the period it is believed that he started taking Performance Enhancing Drugs. With excellent career numbers (both traditional and sabermetric) and three National League MVP Awards under his belt, the Cooperstown resume was already there. What has been speculated is that Bonds grew frustrated at the attention that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire received during their famous chase of Roger Maris’ single-season Home Run record and that had he done the same things (PED) that they did, he could have surpassed their levels. Whether or not that history is correct, Bonds’ already impressive numbers reached stratospheric levels, and he completely dominated the Steroid Era.
We don’t have to tell you all the statistics. A first look shows seven MVPs, the career Homer Run and Walks mark, and the top five career tallies in Runs, RBIs, WAR, and OPS, and that is without going into great depth. We also don’t have to tell you that Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro (others tainted with PEDs) have colossally failed to get the writer’s support for the Hall, and there is no evidence to show they will change their minds. However, the fact is that Barry Bonds was a better player than those two superstars and if any player from that era deserves to get in, it is Barry Bonds.
We would have no problem casting a vote for Bonds for the Hall of Fame if we were ever granted a ballot, as evidenced by his selection to the top of our list. We would however understand if you wouldn’t.
Should Barry Bonds be in the Hall of Fame?
Definitely put him in! - 58.5%
Maybe, but others deserve it first. - 1%
Probably not, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. - 2.3%
No opinion. - 0.5%
No way! - 37.6%
Joe Sakic
Jan 12, 2015
Published in
2012 Hockey Inductees
Unarguably the best player in the history of the history of the Colorado Avalanche franchise, Joe Sakic spent his entire career with the team (including when it was in Quebec City) and scored over 1,600 points there. His most productive season was in 2000-01 where the Avs Captain won the Hart Trophy, the Lady Byng and carried the Stanley Cup for the second time. Overall, he was a three time First Team All Star, a Ted Lindsay Award winner, an Olympic Gold Medalist and one of the most respected leaders in Hockey. There was no shock to Joe Sakic entering the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.