Cooperstown deserves to be kept clean of Clemens, Bonds
What: The latest induction ceremony in Cooperstown brought focus about the candidacies of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, the poster children for baseball’s steroids era.
When: Both will be eligible for induction in 2012. On statistics alone, they are first-ballot Hall of Famers. They belong in the discussion of the greatest players ever. Had both retired after 10 seasons, they would have been elected. That’s the unwritten standard for excellence. But both allegedly yielded to temptation and greed later in their careers, turning to performance-enhancing drugs to extend their reign of dominance. Both deny they have used PEDs.
Renck’s take: Visiting the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown — Coopersvillage would be more apt since there’s only one stoplight — creates a better appreciation for the honor’s significance. The original Baseball Writers’ Association forefathers included a morality clause to be weighed when judging candidates. Whether dated or not, if they didn’t want that considered, they wouldn’t have included it. As such, there’s no way when I become eligible to vote in a couple of years that I will put Clemens and Bonds on my ballot. The hard part will be deciding the merits of those whom I have long suspected, but who never appeared in federal court or the Mitchell report. In talking to several Hall of Fame members last weekend, none supported Bonds and Clemens. Some, in fact, are personally offended by their actions. That carries heavy weight. If their peers don’t want them in, then it only makes sense for the writers to double-bolt the doors.
