When a collection of people get together and hold some sort of power towards something vastly important to a majority of Americans, you would expect a group of sound, level headed, and fair humans. The Baseball Hall of Fame Writers seem to be almost the exact opposite of what you would expect.    

Through the years of growing up watching baseball, there were a few guys that practically made the sport more than relevant in the 2000’s. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and many more. Out of those players, can you guess which three got snubbed this year? I’ll give you a hint; One has the most home runs in the history of baseball, one of them won seven (7) Cy Young Awards, and the last one won three World Series as well as finishing second in Cy Young voting THREE times as well as striking out over the milestone of 3k batters. Now, just reading those few of many accolades, one would think those should be well over the mark to qualify for the honor of being enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you thought that you would be wrong. For just the 9th time in history, since 1936, no one was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Just an unfathomable sentence to type. It would be one thing is no one was deserving, but having three of baseball’s best players to ever exist is ridiculous.

    Yes, I may be only 27 years old and have only watched baseball for 22 of my young years on Earth. Except I am sound enough as a human being (I’d like to think. My parents might say otherwise) to understand when someone or something qualifies as legit.. Let’s take a look at Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens’ stats.

Barry Bonds — 61.8%

• 762 Home Runs (Most all-time)
• 1,996 RBI (6th all-time)
• 2,227 Runs (3rd all-time)
• 2,935 hits
• 601 doubles
• 514 stolen bases
• 2,558 walks (Most all-time)
• .298/.444/.607- 1.051 OPS 
• 688 Intentional Walks (most all-time)
• Seven MVP’s
• 8x Gold Gloves
• 12x Silver Sluggers
• 14x All-Star
• 2x Batting Title

Curt Schilling — 71.1%

• 216 wins
• 3.46 ERA
• 3,116 strikeouts
• 1.137 WHIP
• 6x All-Star
• 3x World Series Winner
• World Series MVP
• NLCS MVP

Roger Clemens — 61.6%

• 354 wins (9th all-time)
• 3.12 ERA
• 118 Complete Games
• 4,916.2 innings
• 4,672 strikeouts (3rd all-time)
• 1.173 WHIP
• 1x MVP
• 7x Cy Young
• 2x Triple Crown
• 2x World Series Winner
• 11x All-Star
• 7x ERA title
• All-Star MVP

Those three gentleman were the top three vote getters this year. To become a Hall of Famer, you have to obtain at least 75% of the votes, 301 total, from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. As a player, you have 10 total years to be on the ballot and have to obtain at least 5% to stay on the ballot. These bozo’s are comprised of men that have been on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for 10 consecutive years. Of the 401 total votes, there were an ungodly fourteen (14!!) ballots submitted BLANK. Meaning there were ZERO (0!!) candidates selected from a group of 25 players from these 14 people and they couldn’t deem ONE worthy of the honor of becoming a baseball Hall of Famer. Those 14 blank ballots were a record and that will hopefully stand and be the only time that this happens.    

It truly is unbelievable. On the website Baseballhall.org, this is what is written as the guidelines to become a Hall of Famer:

“Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.“

    Based off of that, it seems that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America seem to be forgetting about the first two intangibles that makes a player eligible; the player’s record and the playing ability. Yes, I understand that there are other aspects of a player/person that deems them eligible to become a Hall of Famer. HOWEVER, When there is a player that, **cough, cough, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, cough, cough** that did special things for the game and sport of baseball, that helped grow the sport to what it is today, there is absolutely NO reason as to why they should be left off this sacred group of men.

    Barry Bonds is catching flack because of his *alleged* use of PED’s. That would allegedly needs to be exhausted here. Bonds was NEVER found guilty of any use of the drug by a grand jury and for some reason is still getting black balled. As a fan, it is ridiculous that these “writers” are still vetoing his access to the Hall. I grew up watching Barry Bonds. Although I never physically watched Barry Bonds play as a Pirate, maybe I caught a glimpse of him through my mothers stomach and knew he was legit, but I got to witness the single greatest player to ever play the game of baseball. What other man in baseball was consantantly walked with bases loaded because the opposing team saw one run walking in better than giving Bonds a chance to hit and possibly drive in more than one? Not any that I was alive for. What other baseball player is in the 500/500 club? None. Zero. Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez were the closest with A-Rod had 329 stolen bases and Willie Mays had 338 stolen bases. Bonds has been the best baseball player I’ve ever seen since I’ve been alive. If Mike Trout can stay healthy throughout his career, I believe he will give him a run for his money. But or now, Bonds is number one for the foreseeable future and it is a crime this man is getting black balled by these “writers”. 

    Next is Clemens. His situation is a tad different. Clemens was accused of lying to a jury when the whole steroid fiasco was going on. He got accused, was acquited and then kind of stayed quiet since. Clemens is also one of those guys where I only had the pleasure of watching him towards the later part of his career. Although, I do remember watching him at the ripe age of 41 win the Cy Young award, for the last time in his career, and go on only to have a BETTER year at the age of 42. Yes, of course that raises questions when a 42 year old finishes the year with 1.87 ERA while throwing 211.1 innings pitched. BUT, this was Roger Clemens. One of baseballs greatest pitchers and I took it as it was. Clemens was dominate from the moment he came in the league and was dominate until his final year. When I think of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Roy Halladay, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. Yeah, a little biased towards the pitchers I grew up watching but you know what is weird about that list? Schilling and Clemens are the only ones that in the Hall. It just doesn’t seem right to have one of baseball’s greatest pitchers left out of the Hall where it is home to BASEBALL’S BEST PLAYERS TO EVER PLAY THE GAME. I digress. 

    Schilling was an absolute problem in the post season for opposing teams. Not to take anything away from his dominate regular season numbers that I posted above but anytime you win over 200 games in the MLB career, you are in a special class. Schilling pitched until 2007 so his career is a little more clear than Clemens was but Schilling gave us baseball fans great memories. From his dominate and memorable 2001 season with the Diamondbacks when him and Randy Johnson both caused insurmountable problems for the loaded 2001 Yankees lineup to His “bloody sock game” later in his career, Schilling oozed greatness his entire career. Unfortunately, the world does not like opinionated humans that feel strongly about certain subjects of life and Schilling has let the world know how he feels about somethings. We will not get into that because it is irrelevant talk when discussing one’s bid for baseball’s greatest achievements. Schilling is a Hall of Famer. Plain and simple. Men that single handily entrench themselves in history with baseball due to their play on the field and do it exceptionally better than their counterparts deserve recognition of it’s highest honor. Which is the Hall of Fame. 

     Bonds holds the home run record as well as seven MVP Awards. Clemens has 354 wins as well as seven Cy Young Awards. Schilling has 216 wins in his career as well as a World Series and a World Series MVP award. Not including any of the great memories these men gave us for the great sport of baseball, there is not an argument one can give me that these men do not deserve to be enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame. These “writers” have too much power. It is creating negative noise within the baseball world and has done nothing except taint the game of baseball. Until these “writers” wise up and put their own none existent pride aside, this will be a blip in history if these men do not get elected next year.

    Only time will tell but I hope I am not alone in this argument. This is a crime that some of baseball’s greatest players of all time do not get to share the same recognition as some of their won teammates and counter parts. I can guarantee if you ask any of their former teammates that played along side or even guys that played against these men that they would tell you the same thing. It is complete and utter bullshit these guys are not in the Hall. I think these “writers” are losing sight of the meaning of being in the Hall of Fame. If you do not agree with me, fine. You are entitled to your own opinion but there is not positive coming out of not letting these guys in. Hopefully next year it will be a different story.