J.ROSS-Let Them In Already!!!!
Jan 24, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:23 am
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
UPDATE: The 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame has been released. Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, and Jim Thome have all been announced as inductees.
Your 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame class. pic.twitter.com/D7K7R5zGrm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 24, 2018
______________________________________________________________
I have been a fan of baseball as long as I can remember. I collected baseball cards when I was a kid and still dip my toe back into that water as an adult. I played A LOT of baseball throughout my life and have watched or listened to so many games. Baseball has been a big part of my life and the debate about who should get in the Hall of Fame exhausts me. For the better part of 40 years I have seen so many great players and I feel supremely confident in saying that the best player that I have ever seen is Barry Bonds.
I don’t know that I would say that Roger Clemens is the best pitcher I have ever seen but he should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. He is for sure one of the best pitchers that baseball has ever produced. While we are at it, throw in Pete Rose too, the all-time hit king.
Notice that I haven’t mention any of their transgressions. I realize that is a “deal breaker” for a lot of the voters. I also haven’t mentioned their gaudy stats because those numbers don’t seem to matter in this conversation to many either. So let’s just take the premise of what the Hall of Fame is. It is a place to honor baseball history and recognize talent. Clemens, Bonds, Rose and others are a MAJOR part of baseball’s history. I am not a fan of putting them in with an asterisk but if that is what it takes put them in.
Baseball has honored managers that played these players. Baseball highlighted the home run chase all while the rumors of “using” were out there. The voters are dictating what is right and wrong but baseball didn’t. The sport responsible for these incredible feats praised these legends while they played but now is leaving it in the hands of people who covered the game. Lesser players are in the Hall of Fame. There is no way that you can convince me that the “Hall” is squeaky clean. I can’t un-see what these players did. They are flawed, but so is the game. They are legends and to me they should be in.
