I’ll admit it, I am not the biggest baseball fan. As a matter of fact, if I’m not playing, I put baseball games on in the summer to fall asleep.
What I do know about baseball, is the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is an incredibly cool place. I went there in college and got a private tour that was awesome.
That being said, the baseball Hall of Fame election process has become despicable.
For anyone that doesn’t know, the best players in the history of baseball are not voted in by their fellow players. They aren’t elected by baseball historians. They aren’t even elected by fellow Hall of Famers. The all time greats in baseball are voted into the Hall of Fame by none other than…journalists. I’m not sure about you, but when I think of knowing the best players of a sport, I 100% think of old newspaper writers.
Well, these greats of baseball knowledge are at it again. Yesterday was the day that those players elected to the Hall of Fame were announced. There was only one person who was elected and that person was David Ortiz.
Before I get destroyed for my lack of baseball knowledge, I think Oritz should be in the Hall of Fame based on his numbers. I watched the guy play and he was an incredible hitter. My problem isn’t with Ortiz himself, my issue is with the frauds that voted him in.
Just so you know, this was David Ortiz’s first year on the ballot and a player needs at least 75% of ballots to get in. Ortiz got 77% of the vote. The problem isn’t that. The problem is who didn’t get in on the same ballot. Great players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez just to name a few. These are three of the best players in baseball history, hands down.
The reason the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens didn’t get in, is their connection to the use of performance enhancing drugs. Now, there are some of these voting journalists that think if a player is connected to steroids, then they don’t get into the Hall of Fame. Personally, I think doing this is just trying to erase one of the best eras in the sports’ history. But if that’s their stance, I get it. Players like A-Rod definitely cheated by taking steroids and if they want to keep them out, fine. Where I start to have a problem is when these same people vote for David Ortiz.
Like it or not Red Sox fans, David Ortiz tested positive for a banned substance. In fact, he tested positive for more banned substances than Barry Bonds. And yet, Bonds isn’t in the Hall of Fame after 10 years of being on the ballot, and Ortiz gets in on the first try. Needless to say, if that’s the stance these writers are taking, then there is NO REASON that they should’ve voted for Ortiz. Alos, Barry Bonds was a much better hitter than Ortiz ever was. And he even played the outfield while Ortiz was just a DH.
All this vote does is expose these writers as hypocrites and frauds. The only reason these same people voted for Ortiz and not Bonds is because “Big Papi” is nice to the media, while Bonds and Clemens are dicks to the press. These writers (especially in Boston) worship Ortiz like he’s the second coming of Jesus because he treats them nicely. Proven by the fact that Ortiz used to pay for a media trip down to the Dominican Republic that all these writers used to go to and drink it up with their buddy “Big Papi.”
Listen, the great Ted DiBiase said it, “Everybody’s got a price.” I’m sure if I was in the same situation, who knows, I might do the same. It would be refreshing if one of these writers came out and said, “Yeah I voted for Ortiz because he was cool to me and not a dick.” That’ll never happen because the baseball Hall of Fame voters are the biggest example of the “Old Boys Club” out there. They are pretentious, full of themselves and think they don’t have to explain themselves to anyone. Which is very odd because all they’re doing is picking which baseball players are better than others. It’s really not that important. They all quote the “Character Clause” that let’s them vote for guys they don’t like. It’s embarrassing to say the least.
Meanwhile football, the sport that has not only passed baseball in popularity, it has replaced it as America’s Pastime does it right. They put guys in simply based on their play on the field. Just for some perspective, the NFL put alleged double murderer OJ Simpson in their Hall of fame. While the baseball Hall of Fame refuses to put their best hitter ever Pete Rose in because he bet on a couple games. Guess what the most popular bust in Canton, Ohio is. You got it. OJ’s.
On a side note, OJ should be removed from the NFL Hall of Fame because he blocked me on Twitter. That’s almost worse than the double murder.
This is just a small nail in the coffin that professional baseball is lying in. Stupid crap like these old writers liking guys better than others is just another hole in the sinking ship. The sport needs to change something ASAP, or they’re going to fall to the level of soccer in the American sports scene.