The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY has always been the most prestigious hall of fame in sports. The rich history and exclusiveness of it’s standards has set it apart from others like the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
While the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducts a minimum of 4 people per year, the National Baseball Hall of Fame only inducts those on the ballot who receive 75% or more of the votes by the Baseball Writers Association of America or those elected by the hall’s Veteran’s Committee.
The writers did not elect any candidates in 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1971, 1996, and 2013. This year the BBWAA elected Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez for enshrinement this Summer in Cooperstown.
I personally view Raines and Bagwell as borderline candidates that I would not have voted for. Pudge had a HOF career but is tainted by PED allegations in Jose Canseco’s book, though he has never failed a drug test to public knowledge.
Say what you will about Canseco being a sideshow freak. You’re not wrong. However, he has shown himself to be a VERY reliable source on this topic.
In addition to those three, a version of the Veteran’s Committee has elected former Milwaukee Brewers owner and commissioner, Bud Selig. To this, I have a huge objection.
As an owner, Selig’s club reached the postseason in 1981 (Division Series loss to the New York Yankees) and the World Series in 1982 (7 game series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals). Those were the only Brewer playoff appearances in his tenure. He was also part of owner collusion from 1985-1987.
During Selig’s reign as acting commissioner/commissioner, Major League Baseball did flourish financially. However, the game itself was damaged and he spat in the fans’ faces across three decades.
First there was the strike in 1994 which resulted in the cancellation of the postseason and late start to the 1995 season. To bring fans back, he at the very least turned a blind eye to the fact that his players increasingly began to resemble Mr. Olympia contestants who suddenly challenged and broke sacred records.
The players formerly holding those records got by on various regimens of booze, broads, coffee, amphetamines, and cocaine. Selig did not want to acknowledge a PED epidemic until the U.S. government began to lean on him with a series of dog and pony shows.
Suddenly, he saw the light and went on witch hunts selectively outing players who beat the testing system. All the while, he patted himself on the back as some type of baseball Elliot Ness.
Another of his achievements included Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN with a flex schedule. This allowed his customers to purchase tickets to Sunday afternoon games who suddenly had to attend a game that started damn near 8:30 PM for television money.
Phil Mushnick of the NY Post (http://www.nypost.com) often points out how a lot of these games are advertised as “family days” with a 1:00 start where kids sometimes get to run the bases after the game. Accept because Selig sold out for ESPN money they will run these bases at midnight Monday morning before school.
Any Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Phillies fan over the last 15 years has seen countless scenarios where games are played until 12:30 AM Monday in 40 degree weather when they could have been played at 1:00 PM in 65 degree weather.
Mushnick (all intelligent sports fans should read his column) also points out that Selig declared $1,000+ seats in new Yankee Stadium to be affordable. The fact that they remain empty every night on TV tells a different truth.
These are some of Selig’s outstanding accomplishments. I’m not even going to get into sham All-Star games that “count,” World Baseball Classics, nonsense interleague play, and the World Series often ending after All Saints Day.
Letting the top PED enabler into the HOF now sets a precedent that makes it hard to keep known PED users out.
Another injustice is the BBWAA’s apparent blackballing of Curt Schilling. Schilling’s regular season numbers (216-146/3.87 ERA) put him on the fence. However, his postseason numbers (11-2/2.23 ERA) put him in a class with Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Madison Bumgarner, etc. Hall of fame in my book!
But don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking his regular season numbers are truly keeping him out. Schilling’s greatest baseball sin is being an outspoken conservative.
Yes, the Stalinists have invaded the sports media every bit as much as regular media. You see, Schilling was suspended from ESPN (the MSNBC of sports) for rightfully comparing Muslim Jihad to Nazi Germany. He was then fired from the company for standing up for the civil rights of children to maintain their youthful innocence in public bathrooms rather than those of adults with mental disorders regarding their gender.
So, the one time beacon of sports enshrinement is now on it’s way to becoming a place that forces a life-long Yankee fan to defend Curt Schilling. Talk soon.
-Marksman