Opinion: BBWAA Got It Right Except for one: Curt Schilling

I have seen a lot of articles and tweets bashing the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for their recent votes for this year's inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and I am not sure that I agree with their arguments.

But first things first…

On Tuesday evening, the BBWAA announced that Red Sox slugger David Ortiz would be the only player elected to the Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

“Big Papi” was the only player to clear the required 75% threshold, coming in at 77.9% and doing so in his first year of eligibility.

Whether you were a Red Sox fan or not, it was easy to love David Ortiz the player, and David Ortiz the person. He played the game with such joy and passion, and his infectious smile was as much a part of the game as his powerful bat. Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let's dive into the issue at hand: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, and Sammy Sosa not being elected into the Hall of Fame.

Four of the biggest stars in recent history have occupied spots on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the past decade, only to see their annual vote total fall beneath the 75 percent threshold necessary for election.

For Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, and Sammy Sosa, 2022 marked their 10th and final shot at the election by the eligible voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, but none garnered enough votes to be inducted this year and I am glad at least for three of these players.

Despite the fact that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens's professional stats were amazing. I get it, it's hard to argue with a 354 game-winning pitcher Rodger Clemens and his seven Cy-Young Awards, or Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader not being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but here's the deal they used steroids and they cheated! Bottom line end of the story, end of a tweet, or whatever you say.

I do not care that during the steroids era, the league and baseball owners turned a blind eye to what was occurring, it was wrong for these players to do take performance-enhancing drugs and it was wrong for the league and owners to also turn a blind eye. No one is innocent here. But we aren't talking about the league and owners. It was wrong for Former Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, however, it wasn't the BBWA that elected him into the Hall of Fame. It was the Today's Game Era Committee that made that decision.

It's one thing to be accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs and then after further investigation to be found that wasn't the case, but that didn't occur for Bonds and Clemens. Bonds and Clemens were two key figures tied to the 2007 Mitchell Report a league-funded congressional investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

The Mitchell Report had more than 700 sources including 60 former players. The report found that Clemen's trainer Brain McNamee testified that the pitcher asked him to inject him with steroids in 1998. But what makes this even worse is that when they were asked before a congressional Committee both Bonds and Clemens claimed that they never knowing injected themselves with illegal substances, this turned out to be a lie as an investigation of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative found that Bonds tested positive and was informed about the test. Bonds was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. That's right, Bonds was charged with lying and obstruction of justice, the same charges that were used to impeach the President of the United States: Bill Clinton. Matt Parrella, the lead prosecutor in Bonds’ 2011 perjury and obstruction trial, told Forbes in 2020 the evidence of Bonds’ and Clemens’ use of steroids is “incontrovertible,” adding “It’s scientifically certain, and corroborated by the surrounding facts and circumstances.”

Why does this matter? At the end of the day it's all about the kid's bottom line. How do we sit with our kids and tell them not to take the easy way and cheat during a Little League Baseball game when Major League Baseball players cheated themselves? I am a parent of a young boy who loves baseball and enjoys the game and how do I tell him as he grows up not to cheat if these players get recognized for cheating? What should be the consequences of their actions if not being denied entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Some suggest putting an asterisk next to their names, do you think that really will deter future players from cheating? You got to be kidding me. I am open to hearing another solution?

These players knew taking the performance-enhancing drugs was dangerous and illegal and were against his contract to get a few more homers. That is the ultimate in arrogance and being self-absorbed and that shouldn't be awarded it should be a lesson to everyone that if you cheat and get caught you should be punished, that's the lesson that we should be teaching our kids the next generation of baseball players.