With the results of the latest round of Baseball Hall of Fame voting set to be released next week, the annual debate about whether or not performance-enhancing drug users should be allowed in Cooperstown is once again simmering. One starting pitcher wants to make his stance on the subject very clear.
On Thursday, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Archer said any player who has been suspended for or admitted to using PEDs should not be eligible for the Hall of Fame since they are proven to have “disgraced the integrity of the game.”
If you ever failed a test, got suspended, or admitted to using performance enhancers you should NOT be in the hall of fame. No hard feelings but you disgraced the integrity of the game, your stats are tainted. You don’t deserve the honor.
— Chris Archer (@ChrisArcher22) January 18, 2019
Archer certainly is not alone in that stance. However, the issue is a lot more complicated than he makes it sound. The two biggest names to watch once again this year are Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, both of whom are on their seventh ballot. Both players have strong ties to steroids, but — unlike nominees Manny Ramirez and Miguel Tejada — neither has admitted to using them or been suspended for it. Does that mean they should be in the Hall?
We already know how Bonds feels about his own Hall of Fame candidacy, and Clemens once called out the supposed hypocrisy of a fellow star pitcher who urged voters to keep him out of Cooperstown.
Bonds and Clemens both received their highest vote percentage in six years last year, with the former getting 56.4 percent and the latter 57.3 percent. A total of at least 75 percent of the vote is needed to get into the Hall.
