Baseball Bloggers Alliance 2013 Hall Of Fame Ballot

Well, it that time of year again when Baseball Bloggers Alliance writers cast their lot for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) Baseball Hall of Fame. (This has nothing to do with the Baseball Writers of America Hall of Fame Voting, this is strictly a vote by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.)

This year I voted for a record number of players - three.

My vote: Edgar Martinez (4), Barry Bonds (1), Roger Clemens (1)
(number in brackets means number of years on the ballot, maximum is 15 years)

(click on img for fullscreen)

Edgar Martinez was a career .312 hitter, a great right fielder and played the game at it's highest level for 18 years, and for one team - which I emphasize because it indicates selflessness - and that is good for the game.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were amoung the best players to ever play the game. I needn't make any arguement for their inclusion based on he numbers they put up. The fact they both used steroids at the end of their careers, to me, is irrelevant - with the following caveat.

They played in an era where the absence of screening by MLB allowed cheating via performance enhancing substances - and coincidentally - they played in an era where MLB juiced the ball to add spectacle to the game. Thus their inflated numbers cannot be quantified as to which part of the inflation was due to cheating, and which part was a function of the profiteering of MLB through the dumbing-down of the game via the spectacle fetish for the home run.

The numbers these two players put up compared to their peers from other eras of baseball will forever be a subject of speculation. I acknowledge that these players were at the pinnacle of talent amoungst their peers (many of whom were also on steroids).

As such - an asterisk should be added beside their names - if inducted by the Baseball Writers of America - indicating they played in the nuclear-ball / steroid era.




mh