Guilty Until Proven Innocent

I began playing the game of baseball at the age of five.  I've been a fan ever since.  The pinnacle of baseball is located in Cooperstown, NY:  The Baseball Hall of Fame.  It is here where the legends and greats of the game are recognized and adored.  It is the highest honor one can achieve while playing a kids game as a means to put bread on the table.  Rest assured, if you end up here, it's a damn nice table in a mansion located in any geographical locale your heart desires.  But, this piece is not about lifestyle, financial accomplishments, or how fame led to a surly demise of one's character.  No.  This is about a narcissistic group of individuals who somehow are led to believe that they are the guardians to Fort Knox.  Follow along after the jump...

When one delves into the actual members of the HOF and their election percentages, certain things are obvious.  The first stat that jumps out at you upon close inspection:  no member of the HOF has been elected by 100% of the vote.  I would be willing to wager quite a large sum of money on the following question:  Name the highest percentage vote getter in the history of balloting.  I would bet most of you would say Babe Ruth.  You would be wrong.  You might follow that first guess with Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, or Willie Mays.  Wrong.  Wrong.  Wrong.  The correct answer is Tom Seaver.

At the time of his induction, Seaver was on 430 ballots, with 425, or 98.84% voting for him to be enshrined into the HOF.  Here lies the first problem with the HOF voting procedures.  The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is literally hellbent on ensuring that there is never a 100% vote recipient entering the HOF.  The second problem?  This same line of thinking also supports their warped notion that election to the HOF in the first year of eligibility is only reserved for the best of the best.  I did not realize the HOF was a pyramid.  So, the writers have a hall within the hall?  OK.  Got it.

Think back to some of the members of the "modern era" of baseball:  Mays, Aaron, Bob Gibson, Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, Rod Carew, Seaver, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Nolan Ryan (2nd all time percentage leader), Tony Gwynn, and finally Cal Ripken, Jr.  Chew on that list for a minute or so.  None of them received 100% of the vote.  How does this happen?

My guess is it happens like this.  Just to be clear, somewhere in this nation, when it came time to submit votes for the HOF for the aforementioned players, there were members of the BBWAA who said, and I am paraphrasing here:

"I am the guardian to the baseball Hall of Fame.  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is going to receive 100% of the eligible vote and THIS year it is my duty and obligation to stick it to _________ and preserve the sanctity of our beloved fraternal order of omnipotent fossils."

So, with this mindset which is now prevalent, just how do we handle the steroid era of baseball?  What do we do with the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, et. al?  Well, for starters, we could look HERE.  One name is absent from this list:  Jeff Bagwell.  He has never been implicated, tested positive for a banned substance, nor been linked to any steroid pushing trainer.  Yet, somehow, he is guilty.  Today, Bagwell learned that he received 41.7% of the vote, far short of the required 75% to become inducted into the HOF.  He fared better than Palmeiro, who received 11% and is destined to never become a member due to his admitted steroid/HGH use.  What I am figuring out, along with the rest of you I am sure, is that segregation, discrimination, and "presumed guilt" is alive and well amongst the members of the BBWAA.  Let's review Bagwell's career numbers, shall we?

AVG-.297  HR-449  RBI-1529  R-1517  H-2314  SB-202  BB-1401  SLG-.540

Those are VERY Hall of Fame worthy numbers.  To put it into perspective, Bagwell had six consecutive years where he batted greater than .300, drove in 100+RBI, and scored 100+ Runs.  There are two first basemen in the history of baseball that had similar production in that capacity:  Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, arguably the two greatest first basemen of all time.  Additionally, he's the only first basemen ever with 400+ homers, 200+ stolen bases in a career.  The.  Only.  One.

A vote against Bagwell today by some 58% of the BBWAA members illustrates a couple of things:  First, they are going to lump all steroid era players together, regardless of proof.  Second, they are assuming guilt rather than innocence.  The backlash from them regarding criticism is a bit humorous if you think about it.   Follow me here.  Earlier today, BBWAA member Dan Graziano tweeted: "Congratulations to Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven. We, the clueless moron voters of the BBWAA (emphasis mine), salute you."  Did you catch what happened here?  He is pissed that he is being lumped together with clueless moron voters, of which he is certainly not a member.

For the record, Graziano is a stand up guy who will converse with you on Twitter and discuss his position on a number of currently eligible players.  But, let's go back to his statement.  It could be replaced by one from Jeff Bagwell stating very similarly:  "We the hard working, innocent, productive players of the steroid era, just want a fair shake."  Well, what a novel idea.

Thus far, they are guilty until proven innocent.