The 2017 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame results were released yesterday and three new names found themselves thrust into mix of other names such as Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.
Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez were announced as the newest inductees to the Hall. All three players are worthy of the award, but only one of them was a first year inductee.
Known as Pudge by many, Rodriguez was arguably one of the best catchers of his generation. Defensively he had no match. The red flag on Pudge's remarkable career was that he was one of a large group of players suspected of taking steroids.
Former teammate Jose Canseco claimed in his book Juiced that he introduced Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez to them. He also claimed that future president and then-team owner, George W. Bush, also knew of his star players taking them. Of course, it's hard to believe Jose Canseco. He basically claims that he introduced every star player he was teammates or friends with to steroids, but no evidence other than his word has ever been presented. It also should be noted that Canseco's word is less than trustworthy, yet nearly every player he accused was irreparably harmed. Rodriguez included.
With this latest vote, it appears that the baseball writers have become a little more forgiving in the past year. Anyone with the steroids stigma was considered a long shot for the honor of being called a hall of famer. This year, Pudge broke through to break that barrier, along with Jeff Bagwell who received 86 percent of the vote in his seventh try.
Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds both received over 50 percent of the vote to gain the highest percentage they've received since they became eligible. They're gaining steam. Only two players in history received over 50 percent of the vote and never made it eventually. Lee Smith, who will now be dropped from the ballot after his tenth try this year, and Jack Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 1980's.
Others connected to steroids included Manny Ramirez also received almost 24 percent of the vote this year while Sammy Sosa received eight percent. Next season sees the inclusion Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, and Jim Thome, all of whom have been suspected of some sort of steroid or human growth hormone use.
Writers are going to have to start getting used to the idea that some of those they vote in may have the stigma attached to their careers. Otherwise, they will only be left with options such as Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, and other players that also deserve to go to the hall, but haven't received enough of the vote yet.
