Oakland Athletics NewsNews » No room in Hall of Fame for McGwire |
| No room in Hall of Fame for McGwire | |
|
|---|
 Mark McGwire can get into the Hall of Fame any time he wants. He just has to get to Cooperstown, walk up to the ticket office and slap down $16.50 — or $14.75 if he's a AAA member. Because the only way he's getting in is as a visitor. While he has 12 more shots at being elected, his first three years of eligibility for election by the veteran members of the Baseball Writers Association of America have spoken loudly about the dark cloud that has shrouded McGwire's career because of his presumed use of performance-enhancing drugs, and his refusal to open up about the subject. We live in a forgiving society. But we need to have a reason to forgive. McGwire has refused to deal with the questions surrounding his home run hitting exploits.He finds himself remembered not as much for being the man who broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record of 61, set in 1961, by hitting 70 in 1998, as for his refusal to answer questions during his appearance before a House Government Reform Committee that was looking into the use of PEDs in baseball. "I'm not here to talk about the past,'' he uttered. And the Hall of Fame has spoken loudly in the last three years. He has finished ninth in the voting in every year he has been eligible, and his negligible support has declined each year from 23.63 percent two years ago to 23.5 percent last year to 21.9 percent this year. There's no reason to expect that to change. Instead of finding himself mentioned among the likes of Rickey Henderson and Tom Seaver and Babe Ruth, he will be forever linked with Pete Rose and Roger Clemens and Shoeless Joe Jackson, players of distinction whose refusal to face up to their misdoings has left them banished from baseball's ultimate recognition. To be fair, not everyone who has left McGwire off their Hall of Fame ballot has done it in protest over his role in baseball's steroid era. There is a faction that just doesn't think McGwire's career added up to enshrinement in Cooperstown, regardless of whether he had drug enhanced production or not. As I wrote just last month: "Yes, he was a feared home run hitter, finishing eighth on the all-time home run list with 582, leading a league four times, including three times in his final five seasons. "But there is more to the game than hitting home runs. And McGwire's other numbers simply don't add up. He hit .263 in his career, managing to hit .300 only three times in 15 full big-league seasons and failing to hit .250 four times. He had only 1,626 hits and struck out 1,596 times. "In Bill James' statistical analysis of similar players, the four who come the closest to McGwire are Jose Canseco, Jim Thome, Jason Giambi and Carlos Delgado.'' |
But it isn't likely that there are enough voters who share my feelings to keep McGwire out of Cooperstown. There have been more than a handful of players enshrined without needing my support, including this year's selection of Jim Rice, and my refusal to offer support has done absolutely nothing to diminish the value of the election of Rice and Co.
The feeling is the anti-McGwire faction is more strongly tied to the questions about performance enhancers than what he was doing once the game started, and for that McGwire has only himself to blame.
He has had his opportunities to apologize for anything he has done — or is believed to have done — to create a cloud over baseball, which has been very good to him. He, however, has refused to show any sign of being contrite for the controversy that has surrounded him.
Must be that macho thing that becomes a burden.
A lot like Pete Rose and Roger Clemens, who should have gone down as first-time inductees into Cooperstown. McGwire has taken a more subtle approach than Rose and Clemens, who have climbed atop soap boxes to proclaim their innocence and have insulted most living people in the process.
McGwire, instead, has become a recluse. Limiting his public exposure, including declining opportunities to get back into the game, so he can avoid having to address the questions that surround his career.
Now, as opposed to Rose, who is banned from baseball and therefore not eligible for Hall of Fame consideration, and Clemens, who well could join Rose on the list of banned players before his five-year retirement period for Hall of Fame eligibility is completed, McGwire does have Hall hope, however faint it may be.
He could eventually be elected by his peers — the living members of the Hall of Fame who make up the Veterans Committee.
That opportunity, however, is 18 years away.
First he has 12 more years of rejection by the veteran members of the BBWAA.
Then he has a five-year waiting period before Veterans Committee consideration.
Or he could step up, address the issues that hang over him, and ask for forgiveness for anything he has done — whether it is real or perceived — to hurt the game that has been so good to McGwire and his families.
Author:Fox Sports
Author's Website:http://www.foxsports.com
Added: January 14, 2009
