Sorry if this offends other Hall of Fame voters, but our vote just keeps getting worse.
Specifically, someone will have to explain how Gary Sheffield, a PED guy, killed Alex Rodriguez, a PED guy, during a poll. This makes no sense on any level.
I’m not voting for either, as I generally avoid PED guys (I voted for Barry Bonds, who I’m convinced didn’t take steroids until well into his career, long after having won three of his seven MVPs). And I understand if someone prefers to ignore the cheating, pretend that steroids don’t matter or are not justified in any way. It is certainly easier to just rely on numbers. It’s like painting by numbers.
But I just don’t understand how Sheffield can get anywhere close to the 75 percent needed for induction (according to @NotMrTibbs vote tracker he’s at 74 percent, even assuming he’ll drop once all votes counted) while A-Rod languishes at 39 percent. So 35 percent are voting for Sheffield and not A-Rod. Hazelnut !
Both guys are confirmed PED cheaters. A-Rod is an all-time great, a formidable shortstop who won three MVPs, hit 696 home runs and was one of the best players in the game for a decade and a half. Sheffield is borderline statistical (his 60 WAR equals Jim Edmonds and Bobby Abreu), a run-of-the-mill defender who once admitted to throwing live balls on purpose to get out of Milwaukee.
Gary Sheffield, pictured in 2023, had borderline Hall of Fame stats during his playing career. PA Alex Rodriguez sits on 39 percent of the Baseball Hall of Fame vote, significantly below the required number. P.A.
There’s a good reason why Sheffield got 11 to 14 percent in its first five years on the ballot. But then some Fame voters and influencers supported his case and groupthink took over. Voting for Sheff has become popular.
It’s ridiculous that we are so impressionable that 11 percent in 2018 turned into 74 percent (about two-thirds of the electorate changed their minds!). As a group, we are too easily influenced.
Alex Rodriguez won three MVP awards during his playing career. PA Gary Sheffield ended his MLB career playing one season with the Mets in 2009. PA
Maybe some people think A-Rod cheated more than Sheffield. But this is not known.
Sheffield was caught in BALCO. He placed the blame on Bonds, suggesting he didn’t know what he was doing. But if that’s the case, why would he send money (not a check – this was before Venmo) to steroid guru Victor Conte? Sheffield rightly features in the Mitchell report, a report which is not disputed by him or any of the other 89 players in the report. He doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. Unless A-Rod (and Bonds and Roger Clemens) go in first.
2024-01-18 23:56:44
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