Rosenthal Turns

Ken Rosenthal joins the group of writers voting for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens on the Hall of Fame ballot:

I consistently have voted for Piazza, believing that suspicion alone is not enough to withhold a vote from a player who has never admitted to PED use, never tested positive to public knowledge, never been the subject of a government investigation. I also have voted for Jeff Bagwell, a player who has faced similar questions.

But once one of those players is elected, how could I be truly confident that they were different than Bonds and Clemens, and other recent inductees were as well?

I could not.

And for me, this is where the hair-splitting ends.

In addition to Bonds, Clemens, Piazza and Bagwell, I voted for Ken Griffey Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Tim Raines and Curt Schilling. I did not vote for Mark McGwire, a confirmed user, and Sammy Sosa, an alleged one. But every year I reconsider. This is McGwire’s 10th and final chance on the ballot. Maybe I will vote for Sosa in the future, maybe not.

McGwire is not going to outlast the outrage, probably because of the reduction in times on the ballot from 15 years to ten years. Bonds and Clemens may make it.

The Hall of Fame tracker has Bonds and Clemens at about 50% without Rosenthal’s ballot included. Piazza, Bagwell, and Raines are doing very well. The may be the year the damn breaks.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/1NL5Spr