Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

If you want to know why baseball, the most perfect sport there is continues to die a slow death consider this fact concerning Baseball’s Hall of Fame

Baseball’s all time leaders in

• Games
• Plate Appearances
• At Bats
• Hits
• Home Runs
• Walks
• Intentional Walks

Are either by vote or by exclusion not in the Hall of Fame.

Furthermore one of the most successful pitchers in the game both in the regular season and the post season is excluded because he does not support the political party favored by baseball writers, even though he was the center of one of the most heroic moments in the history of the game.

My own HOF standard is simple there are two ways to judge it.

1. If someone says to you “Is ‘x’ good enough for the Hall of Fame and you have to think about it, then they are not.
2. If you are afraid if this player that you don’t want coming up against you to bat or pitch with the game on the line then he is a Hall of Famer.

All that being under rules 1 & 2 Ortiz belongs in the hall, but so does Clemens, Bonds and Schilling hands down,

As for the vets committee. Under rule 1 Minoso belongs in, Under rule 2 Oliva belongs in and I have no beef with O’Neil or Hodges who I never saw play or Kaat who while not a great pitcher was a very good pitcher for two decades so you might add a sustained quality exception in that he while never the best was quality long beyond the norm.

FYI concerning Rose. I think Pete Rose is one of the best players who ever played the game. In my 1969 league he was my #1 pick. He played harder and worked harder than anyone in the game. He’s exactly the type of guy you want in your clubhouse or to build a team around. It’s no coincidence that a loaded Phillies team didn’t win their 1st world series until he as a 38 year old 16+ year vet showed up. I loved watching him play and if you put me in room with him I could listen to him talk baseball for hours.

All that being said if this was Harold Baines or Mike Greenwell nobody would question his being banned from the game. For 30 year he walked into ballparks past signs that said in effect:

Bet on baseball and you’ll be banned

And he did it anyways. I don’t think for one moment that he ever threw a game or bet against himself but that doesn’t enter into it. He’s guilty as sin and didn’t take the outs that were offered to him because I frankly think he was too competitive to do so. He looked on it as a game to win rather than an offer of mercy. That’s one him

With sports gambling now legal if MLB wants to reverse this sometime before he dies I don’t have an issue with it but he bet on baseball and while I think the ban is sad and might even be counterproductive at this point. It is just.

My thought: last year was the 175th anniversary of the 1st professional baseball game. I think in honor of that and whatever settlement baseball reaches to avoid a lockout a general amnesty should be declared for all players at any level for offenses against the game.

That would allow us to celebrate the game we loved and enjoyed.