Abbatacola: The Hall Of Fame Sucks
By Matt Abbatacola-
(CBS) I absolutely hate Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame voting.
I have never been to Cooperstown and I never plan on going. So how does it work? Is the Hall of Fame building very tall?
Does the first floor of the "Hall" house all of the players who were voted in on the first year of eligibility?
Does one need to walk up stairs to the second floor to the see the players inducted on their second year of eligibility, or is there an elevator?
If Dale Murphy gets in this year, his 14th attempt, that would be a long hike to visit his plaque and pay tribute to the career .265 hitter and his 398 home runs. Do you still get a full plaque after 14 years on the ballot or is it a smaller version?
After I read Phil Rogers' piece in the Tribune this morning, I felt compelled to write.
Phil said he plans to "re-examine" his non-vote on Lee Smith from last year. The former closer is making his 10th appearance on the ballot. What is there to re-examine? Have his numbers changed? Did he pitch last season and therefore help or hurt his chances of making the Hall?
Phil isn't the only guy that does this - he's the only baseball writer that has a ballot that I read on a regular basis. So, this isn't a column bashing Phil, but an attack against the entire stupid process.
Santo had to wait until he died to be called a Hall of Famer. Stupid.
The Steroid Squad has the numbers and should be voted in on this year's ballot.
Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens (throw in McGwire and Palmeiro too) most likely cheated the game. They used PEDs.
Sosa went from being really good to a great player - as did McGwire and Palmeiro.
Bonds and Clemens went from Hall of Famers to two of the game's greatest.
They benefited from their cheating as did MLB, the teams that paid their salaries, the writers who wrote their stories and the fans who bought up their jerseys.
Put them all in - leave them all out. I don't care.
The Hall of Fame board of directors needs to establish some new guidelines. Phil is right.
A player gets one chance - one ballot. You're in or you're not. Period.
The Steroid Era... make a decision. Make it now.
The board will not establish new guidelines. It won't happen. They will leave it up to the nearly 580 voters to decide on their own. This time next year, I'll read another similar Phil Rogers' column and feel bad for him... kind of.
The entire process sucks. That's why the Hall of Fame sucks.
Next Summer when you're in Cooperstown, say hi to Johnny Evers for me. Thanks.
In addition to his weekly duties as the voice of The Boers and Bernstein Sports Minutes, Matt Abbatacola is the executive producer for The Boers and Bernstein Show. You can follow him on twitter @MattAbbatacola.
