Results tagged ‘ Hall of Fame ’
Hall of Fame voting? Morris yes, Schilling no
The Hall of Fame voting is coming up on us and there are a few people that I don’t quite understand what Hall induction is supposed to be based on. I hear arguments that Jack Morris should not be voted in, and I have heard arguments that Curt Schilling should be.
Let’s clear this up. Inclusion in the Hall of Fame is in recognition of an outstanding career. It is not based on Postseason performance. If we compare Jack Morris’ numbers to Schilling’s and we remove the Postseason — where Schilling was 11-2 and Morris was 7-4 — and we get down to the career numbers, I think you will see what I’m talking about.
Won/Loss: Morris 254-186, Schilling-216-146
Career duration: Morris 18 seasons (all in the AL), Schilling 20 seasons (14 in the NL where there are only eight hitters in the lineup)
ERA: Morris 3.90, Schilling 3.35 (4.00 during six seasons in the AL)
Seasons with 15 or more wins: Morris 12, Schilling 8
Seasons with single-digit wins: Morris 4, Schilling 10
Innings Pitched: Morris 3,824, Schilling 3,261
Complete games: Morris 175, Schilling 83
Shutouts: Morris 28, Schilling 20
This all speaks to my point. The Hall of Fame is recognition of a career, not Postseason stats! Postseason stats don’t count towards MVP or the Cy Young Award. There is a reason for that. There are many great ballplayers who didn’t have the good fortune to play on teams good enough to get to the Postseason. If the people who vote on this induction only care about Postseason performance, then Greg Maddux one of the best pitchers in the history of our game, wouldn’t be a Hall of Famer! He was just 11-14 in his Postseason career!
If they come up with a Postseason Hall of Fame, Curt Schilling is a first ballot Hall of Famer! But until they do, he was a good pitcher, but his career is not Hall of Fame worthy.
One final point on the Hall of Fame: the fact that Lee Smith has not been voted in is, in my opinion, a joke! When he retired he was the all-time leader in saves with 478. (He has since been passed by Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.) And his career ERA — which for a closer is a stat that can be very easily inflated for the season by one bad outing — was 3.03.
The telltale sign for me would be poll the players. Ask all the hitters that faced Lee, Trevor and Mo who they would have rather faced in the ninth. Trust me, Lee Arthur would be last on that list!
Clemens and clearing one’s name
Now that the verdict is in on the Roger Clemens trial and he was found not guilty on all charges, can we finally put a stop to this ridiculous waste of our American tax dollars? Please!
I am not a law expert. I’m sure those of you that have heard me speak or read what I’ve written before are not shocked to find this out. But just as a person with what I consider pretty good common sense, I knew from Day One that the government had no chance of winning this case.
My law knowledge stems from watching Law & Order, NCIS and pretty much any show that has to do with the law. What I’m saying is that I ain’t no rocket scientist, but common sense told me right away that the prosecution’s physical evidence had been stored in an old beer can. Ryan Braun’s suspension was overturned because the man who collected the sample — which by the way was triple-sealed — took the sample home with him to ship at the next earliest possible opportunity, which to my understanding is following protocol in that situation.
But the government went ahead with this trial anyway, spending no telling how much of our tax money in doing so. On a case that to anyone with common sense at all was unwinnable.
In the case of steroids or PEDs of any kind, Major League Baseball has done a great job of putting the new testing in place and enforcing the penalties that come with testing positive.
The problem as I see it is this: because we had a “Steroid Era” in baseball, anyone who had a long and productive career during that time is guilty until proven innocent. That is the exact opposite of our legal system. In our country, a person is innocent until proven guilty. The problem here is that Roger Clemens should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but the people who vote on the Hall of Fame had made up their minds before the trial. If there is any justice in this case, the voters will take into consideration what a jury found after hearing all of the evidence and vote Clemens in on the first ballot. But I promise that won’t happen.
I have stated many times that if you are proven to have used steroids — or if you have admitted to using them – you should not be a Hall of Famer. In this case, Clemens was found not guilty. What he can never get back is his good name. That has been tarnished forever, and it appears the people doing the accusing were wrong.
When we look back at our game, there have been what I call “freaks of nature.” Nolan Ryan was still throwing 95 miles per hour at 46 years old. No one ever questioned Nolan. Nor should they. He had a work ethic second to none. Clemens was cut from that same cloth. When Roger was with Boston, he would not report to Spring Training early, because he worked harder at home than they did in Spring Training. There are and always will be guys who are just superior athletes with superior work ethics.
What will this lead to now? If it were me, I would be filing a suit against the government for defamation of character. And guess what folks, it will be our tax dollars hard at work there, too.
It is time to put all of this Steroid Era garbage behind us. Between MLB and the Players Association, the problem has been resolved. I for one am sick to death of hearing about it. It was a big black eye on our game. It is healed.
