Post by tonyo on Feb 10, 2007 19:06:51 GMT -5
PETE ROSE ; HALL OF FAME ?
I've been going back and forth with baseball fans about Pete Rose being allowed into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. It really is close as fans seem to be split down the middle on the issue of his induction into the HOF.
I have NO problem with him being banned from participating with anything to do with major or minor league baseball in a working capacity. To me that is punishment enough. To keep him out of the HOF is ludicrous and to me an insult to a fan's intelligence. The HOF should only worry about performance on the field. Take away the gambling stigma and Rose is a first ballot inductee. Same for Shoeless Joe without the Black Sox scandal.
Mark McGwire could have been a first ballot pick. If not he was a shoe in to be inducted at one point. Probably sooner then later. The steroids issue took its toll on Mark and it is reflective in the amount of votes he didn't receive this year. Will Rafael Palmiero suffer the same fate ? What about some that are suspected of using steroids like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa ?
Author / pitcher Jim Bouton talked about players using " greenies " ( speed ) back in the 1960's and 70's. Surely this helped the players performance. In many cases though I think it was used by some players to counteract the effects of the night before ( hangover ). To me that is much different then the steroid issue.
Steroids actually turned some players into ball hammering monsters. The increase in their size and strength has reached almost super human proportions. Is this cheating ? You bet. To me it's a hell of a lot worse then what Rose did in his post career. Rose didn't use steroids. He didn't cork his bat. Hell I'll bet he never took a " greenie ". He would not have needed it. He was Charlie Hustle himself.
Do we put an * asterisk " next to the records or stats of every player that used or was suspected of using steroids ? Why should they even be considered for the HOF ? They actually cheated while they were playing the game. Hell in the Old West if a poker player was caught with an ace up his sleeve he was usually shot right on the spot. Why ? Because he was cheating. Every time one of those steroid filled, pumped up players stepped on to the field they had an ace up their sleeve. They were cheating. It's a hell of a lot worse then Pete Rose ever did.
Pete Rose deserves to be in !
I've been going back and forth with baseball fans about Pete Rose being allowed into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. It really is close as fans seem to be split down the middle on the issue of his induction into the HOF.
I have NO problem with him being banned from participating with anything to do with major or minor league baseball in a working capacity. To me that is punishment enough. To keep him out of the HOF is ludicrous and to me an insult to a fan's intelligence. The HOF should only worry about performance on the field. Take away the gambling stigma and Rose is a first ballot inductee. Same for Shoeless Joe without the Black Sox scandal.
Mark McGwire could have been a first ballot pick. If not he was a shoe in to be inducted at one point. Probably sooner then later. The steroids issue took its toll on Mark and it is reflective in the amount of votes he didn't receive this year. Will Rafael Palmiero suffer the same fate ? What about some that are suspected of using steroids like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa ?
Author / pitcher Jim Bouton talked about players using " greenies " ( speed ) back in the 1960's and 70's. Surely this helped the players performance. In many cases though I think it was used by some players to counteract the effects of the night before ( hangover ). To me that is much different then the steroid issue.
Steroids actually turned some players into ball hammering monsters. The increase in their size and strength has reached almost super human proportions. Is this cheating ? You bet. To me it's a hell of a lot worse then what Rose did in his post career. Rose didn't use steroids. He didn't cork his bat. Hell I'll bet he never took a " greenie ". He would not have needed it. He was Charlie Hustle himself.
Do we put an * asterisk " next to the records or stats of every player that used or was suspected of using steroids ? Why should they even be considered for the HOF ? They actually cheated while they were playing the game. Hell in the Old West if a poker player was caught with an ace up his sleeve he was usually shot right on the spot. Why ? Because he was cheating. Every time one of those steroid filled, pumped up players stepped on to the field they had an ace up their sleeve. They were cheating. It's a hell of a lot worse then Pete Rose ever did.
Pete Rose deserves to be in !