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BBWAA isn't moral police
January 10, 2013, 05:00 AM Nathan Mollat, Daily Journal Staff

The sanctimonious Baseball Writers' Association of America has decreed that no player deserved to be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, including, most notably, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. It's safe to say those two, in particular, were not voted in based on their purported use of steroids.

Since when is the BBWAA the morality police? According to the BBWAA website, there are certain criteria to use when deciding Hall of Fame worthiness: 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.

There should be one more criteria by which these holier-than-thou writers adhere: he who is without sin cast the first stone.

What would happen if people starting looking in closets for these writers' skeletons? No drug use by any of these writers? No cheating — ever — in anything? Not a game of cards, darts or on their significant other? I'm sure there are plenty of BBWAA writers who are as big of jerks as Bonds or Clemens are. But no one is judging them.

Maybe it's time the baseball Hall of Fame re-examine how the vote is administered. The Hall of Fame is the entity that decided the BBWAA handles the vote. But right on the baseball Hall of Fame website, it states part of the goal of the hall is "preserving the history” of the game.

Aren't Bonds and Clemens among the greatest hitters and pitchers, respectively, to play the game? Anyone watching baseball for the last 25 years can easily draw that conclusion. Apparently these writers can't.

It would be one thing is there were only a handful of player who were accused and caught using steroids. But that isn't the case. The entire game was rife with performance-enhancing drug use for a couple decades. Much like the Dead Ball Era of the early 1900s and the Pitcher Era of the 1960s, baseball went through — and is still in — a Steroid Era. Vote those who deserve to be in based on their performance and let the record reflect they were playing during the Steroid Era. That is the history of the game. That is with what the writers should concern themselves.

Personally, I believe these writers hold personal vendettas against Bonds and Clemens. But the question I ask is: how did their use of PEDs affect your life? When baseballs were flying out of stadiums at record pace, how many of these writers began digging around to see what was causing it? None. Much like fans, baseball writers were just as infatuated with the play on the field.

Is it because they were duped into thinking these players were putting up huge numbers based on sheer athletic ability? Is it because they feel these players made them feel silly?

The problem is, there are already players voted into the Hall of Fame who do not pass all criteria on which the vote is based. Ty Cobb is in the Hall of Fame and by all accounts, he was a raging racist. How does that work with integrity, sportsmanship and character criteria? Amphetamines were even more rampant than steroids in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. How many of those players are in the Hall of Fame?

This was the first time since 1996 that no players were voted into the Hall of Fame. Given that the bulk of the players during the Steroid Era are now starting to come up for voting, it could be a long time before any players is again voted into the Hall of Fame.

And how would that be preserving the history of the game?

***

Cal Hi Sports, the arbiter of high sports history in the state, selected Sacred Heart Prep football coach Peter Lavorato as its Small School Coach of the Year, the first time it has selected a coach from the Central Coast Section for that particular honor.

Lavorato went 12-1 this season and won the school's second CCS title in three years. He has compiled a record of 77-28 in his nine years at the school. A former Canadian Football League player, Lavorato took over the Gators team in 2003 and in less than a decade has turned it into one of the top small-school football programs in the state.


Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. He can also be followed on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt.




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