Book Excerpts


	Hall of Fame Benchmarks Back to Table of Contents . . . There are certain other benchmark statistics that have historically guaranteed near-automatic induction into the Hall. So far, every eligible player who has accumulated 3,000 hits or 500 home runs gets a call. However, as the game continues to change, the voting mass may have a few things with which to grapple. One is that certain statistics have new meaning in a new era. For example, for many years only the most feared power hitters of a generation were capable of hitting 500 home runs in a career. But the bicep-bulging steroid scandal of the late 1990s changed all that, making it seem as though the benchmark was attainable by pretty average players. That would be someone like Jose Canseco, who retired after getting rich off of his 462 career homers and then got richer writing a tell-all book about steroids in MLB. And during Mark McGwire’s home run tear that ultimately garnered him 583 career home runs, the press plastered his name across headlines and his picture on front pages. His image was that of a gracious and kind gentle giant. But now, baseball writers have yet to grant him passage into the Hall of Fame. Very public is the impression that McGwire was not voted into the Hall because of unsubstantiated though compelling accusations that steroids may have helped him hit some of those homers. These are the same rumors, incidentally, that much of the press didn’t stubbornly pursue during McGwire’s playing years. And now they judge—harshly. Players such as Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds also broke the once-revered 500-homer barrier. However, the specter of performance-enhancing drugs has brought new scrutiny to their numbers, as well. In the past, Hall of Fame voters have inducted every eligible player who’s amassed at least 3,000 hits during the course of his career. As of 2008, three “retirees” in the 3,000 Club are waiting to see if they will make it to Cooperstown. Rickey Henderson, who finished his major league career with 3,055 hits, will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2009. A few years after Henderson’s likely first-ballot election to Cooperstown, Palmeiro and Craig Biggio will see if they make the cut. Pete Rose retired from his spectacular playing career in 1986 with 4,256 hits—the most ever by any major leaguer. Rose, however, was banned from baseball for life because of a gambling scandal in 1989, when it was revealed that he bet on the Cincinnati Reds while he was the team’s manager. After rounds of legal wrestling, Rose was dealt a final blow a few years later when it was decided that those banned from baseball were also ineligible for the Hall of Fame. The league officials deemed Rose’s offense unforgivable, and this was a fate for which he was unprepared. Had all gone according to destiny, Rose would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1992. But his name never appeared on the ballot, which didn’t deter some voters. Rose got forty-one protest votes that year, all write-ins. It was the same year that Tom Seaver was a firstballot inductee. Perhaps Rose was treated so harshly because his transgression was considered akin to the Black Sox disaster of 1919. That year, eight players of the Chicago White Sox, owned by Charlie Comiskey, a miserly fellow, were found guilty of taking money to lose that year’s World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. All eight players were banned from baseball, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, an illiterate whose name was tied to the scam. His questionable involvement and his otherwise assured Hall of Fame status make Jackson one of the most enduring and heartbreaking figures associated with the scandal. . . *** * *** What do you want to do now? 1) Back to Interactive Table of Contents 2) Buy autographed books, Savvy Girls shirts, Scorebooks and Quarterly Magazine from this site 3) Buy book at: 4) Send a nice e-mail to Deidre and Jackie!
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