When the BBWAA HOF Ballot is released later this month the list of those that are 1st year eligible will be one of the most anticipated and controversial in quite some time with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens leading the list. 2 players along with another 1st year eligible Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza whom have been linked in the past to “suspicions” surrounding PED’s.
Here is the list of 2013 1st year eligibles.
- Barry Bonds
- Roger Clemens
- Craig Biggio
- Curt Schilling
- Sammy Sosa
- Mike Piazza
- Kenny Lofton
- David Wells
- Julio Franco
- Shawn Green
- Steve Finley
- Roberto Hernandez
- Jeff Cirillo
- Jose Valentin
- Reggie Sanders
- Jeff Conine
- Jose Mesa
- Royce Clayton
- Bob Wickman
- Ryan Klesko
- Aaron Sele
- Woody Williams
- Rondell White
- Mike Lieberthal
- Tony Batista
- Mike Stanton
- Sandy Alomar Jr.
- Damian Miller
- Todd Walker
11 comments
Paul Festa
11/6/2012-11:34am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
Lots of former Mets on this list.
I wonder if the BBWAA will make Piazza guilty by association (or by backne), and refuse to vote him in on the first ballot.
Mr North Jersey
11/6/2012-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
Well if Murray Chass has any say Backne will be means of automatic dismissal for future candidates.
TX
11/6/2012-11:53am at 11:53 am (UTC -4)
My vote, juice or no juice, is as follows:
Bonds
Clemens
Biggio
Piazza
I don’t think Shilling or Sosa have enough merit, nor Lofton either.
Mr North Jersey
11/6/2012-11:55am at 11:55 am (UTC -4)
Here is an interesting article by Tim Kurkjian back in January on the subject.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/hof12/story/_/id/7439370/2013-hall-fame-ballot-all-performance-enhancing-drugs
Mr North Jersey
11/6/2012-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t know. With no clear guidelines on how to deal with this era it is difficult for me fairly or unfairly to come to grips with placing Bonds in the HOF.
He has never been proven to take any PED’s and an argument can be made he was a Hall Of Famer even before the perceived timelines of his alleged use of PED’s so one can use this as a reason for him being awarded the HOF. Yet I struggle with the idea of seeing him in Cooperstown.
I’ve read many of the arguments both pro and con and all make valid points. I will say that with every passing year I think it will become more and more likely that Bonds gets in. It just seems too difficult for the writers to ignore the All Time Career HR Leader.
TX
11/6/2012-12:41pm at 12:41 pm (UTC -4)
They ignore the all time Hits leader… Just saying.
Mr North Jersey
11/6/2012-1:06pm at 1:06 pm (UTC -4)
True.
Prismo
11/6/2012-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
If Piazza is guilty by association, then so is every name on this first ballot list. That’s just ridiculous. No proof, no real accusation. Just silly.
Piazza’s going into the hall of fame, no wait!
SaltyGary
11/6/2012-12:32pm at 12:32 pm (UTC -4)
I’ve stated this before in these discussions and I don’t feel like working so I will state it again. The HOF is a history museum and history needs to be told. There should be a wing devoted to this era and for people like Bonds and McGuire, their stories should be told. How can we have Bond’s HR balls sitting in the hall but bar him from entering. It happened, we cannot change the past and we cannot ignore it. If people like Bonds and McGuire don’t want to show up for their ceremony because of this than so be it. The last thing that should be done is writers deciding who should be the winners and losers based on perception and accusations.
TX
11/6/2012-12:41pm at 12:41 pm (UTC -4)
Amen.
wanny
11/6/2012-2:55pm at 2:55 pm (UTC -4)
the first 7 are in the discussion. for me, schilling just misses and lofton surprisingly misses by quite a bit after a review of his numbers.
the other 5 are no brainers. i don’t care about the PED usage. we now suspect PEDs were used widely and these guys were better than their juiced up peers. in any event, i still don’t think any of these guys were conclusively proven to have done anything (despite the mounting evidence v. Bonds).
also, is anyone working on removing the amphetamine users? the Hall would be pretty bare without them…