For only the eighth time in their annual elections and the first time since 1996, baseball writers have elected no player to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 2013 ballot marked the first year of eligibility for several players who have been named in the probes of performance-enhancing drug use in the Major Leagues, including all-time home-run champ Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. Several of the voters said the results were a reflection of the sport's "steroid era."
Seven-time All-Star Craig Biggio came closest to induction, getting votes on 68.2% on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballots. To get inducted into the Hall of Fame, players need votes on 75% of ballots.
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Bravo..Bravo.....Encore! They have 15 years of eligibility to wait their turn......
There are cheaters at every level in sports, we want them to be hero's and to set records but we are quick to toss stones -I'm sure they are not the only ones to ever cheat, that it goes on continually and they have just found ways to get around the testing – no matter how much stronger it made the, if it did, it still takes talent to throw the ball, to hit the ball – time to take voting out of the hands of media – they just want to be able to say "look at me too!!" bunch of bull about nothing – records get you in, and that should include bonds, clemens, sosa, and rose
We just need an MLDB – Major League Doped Baseball. Let whoever wants to dope play in that league, give them 600-foot center field walls and a few extra feet between the bases.
The measure of greatness is if you can do it without artificial help. Cheaters fail this test and don't deserve recognition. If the 1901 Cincinnati Reds had access to the chemicals we have today, they could have set more records than they did. Just as the old MLB outlawed putting pine tar on your bat to make you a better hitter, the present day MLB outlaws using steroids. If you can't do it without the steroids, you don't deserve to get recognized.
I feel like if they were allowed to play then they should be judged on their play. Its up to the MLB to catch players cheating. If they didn't catch them, the MLB is just as guilty for the player's success. The games were played the stats were compiled. Not voting anyone in because of PED's?? Well how about we go back and time and use instant replay to determine balls and strikes and outs to see who really was good.
The only way I would take MLB's stance against steroids seriously is if they gave back all the money to fans that paid tickets to watch these players play. Otherwise they are just as guilty as the players for not being able to catch them and their whole sport is a mockery if they don't elect those elite players in.
If Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame, there should no longer be ANY inductees. Ever.
Pete Rose knew the consequences of betting on baseball. No excuse for him. Not to mention he lied about it for years. He was banned for life and he deserved it.
Thinker.....as for Pete the player, I think hes deserves to be in. He did nothing but show HOF play. As a manager, I'm with you.
I agree with you. While Pete Rose messed up - really messed up - he will always be considered one of the very greatest baseball players of all time. He didn't just break the record for most hits EVER, he demolised it! His hussle on the baselines (especially down first base line after receiving a walk) was awesome.
If we judged everyone with a strong focus on their morals, we would not only have fewer possible inductees but also few voters. The baseball writers aren't saints, either, not all of them at least. People mess up, but you can't tell me that Pete Rose doesn't deserve to be in the Hall.
As the guy on the radio said this morning, I miss that era. Baseball rocked.
Does the name William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy, 1862-1961 sounds good to be elected eventhou they (NBHOF) are falling "deaf" ears everytime his name (Hoy) is submitted?
They cheated to get ahead, so why should they be voted in?
Actually Bonds nor Cleemons was found guilty of steriod use, we can all say we know they cheated but the sad truth is we don't. There are many others that cheated some sitting in the Hall of Fame right now. Honestly I don't care if they were to cheat or use something to better themselves and their play. It would only be an unfair advantage to those who didn't have the means to purchase the steriods but seeing the all make hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions per year they all have access to it. Even if Barry or Roger used towards the end of thier careers, they still produced Hall of Fame worthy numbers before they jucing allegation began
It's not only the baseball writers who voted against these cheats, but apparently the living HOFers (who also get to vote) didn't want the legacy of those in the HOF to be tarnished by those who cheated the game and the fans. Good for them! I also hope that in the future the voters will also reject Bud Selig, the Commissioner who presided over the steroid era in baseball, when his name comes up. If Selig makes it, then Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Maguire and Rose should also make it.
I want everyone who's ever had Tommy John surgery excluded too. It's unnatural and not available to players of a hundred years ago.
Which vein do you inject Tommy John into with your syringe?....
touché
@ Head Hog-one: I am glad baseball writers have better ethics than you... .Bonds, Clemens and Sosa all cheated ON THE FIELD having ingested PED's. It is the same as a spitter or cutting a ball, an unfair advantage and unsportsman like. And we all know how safe 'roids are. Putting these cheaters in the HOF would be a defacto endoresement of banned substances and behavior and would diminish the integrity, honest hard work and talents of those men that preceeded them. It would no longer be the Hall of Fame, but the Hall of Cheaters.
They should go back and vote Roger Maris in for fairly hitting 61 hrs and breaking Ruth's record. McGuire and the rest all used steriods. His 1961 record still stands. They should fix the wrong Frisk did to Maris
I agree with their decision. I'd never want any of them in the hall of fame for all the dope they used that gave them an edge on others. You messed up, now there'll never be a chance to get in. What's done is done.
Baseball writers – just like Captain Renault from Casablanca:
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Employee of Rick's: [hands Renault money] Your winnings, sir.
Renault: Oh, thank you, very much. Everybody out at once!
Hopefully they will sick to their guns in the years to come. Let's keep the Hall what it was always meant to be.
Man, I'm an idiot. I forgot about Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza. Seriously, great hitters with great defensive skills. They were pretty much the standard. Craig Biggio, prior to playing second base, was a catcher, and a really good one. Plus, he was a lead-off hitter... how many catchers can you say that for? The baseball writers should be ashamed of themselves for not voting in the legimate players just to make a statement about the others.