Cal Ripken Jr. & Tony G. 2 classy men. They deserve to be in hall of fame,but...?

Question

Do U think Mark McGwire was black balled? Example; Latrell Spreewell;Jose Canseco;soon to be Terrell Owens;Marty McSorely;Mike Tyson; etc..etc...

Answer 1

Mark McGwire put himself in the position to be left out.

Canseco, Bonds, and Giambi were all man enough to confess that they used steroids.

Mark was given the same opportunity and took the cowards way out.

When you avoid answering questions given to you by congress with the entire baseball world watching you give them no reason to trust you at all.

How in the world can hall voters put a man in the hall that has no honor and can't be trusted? They can't and they won't. There are too many old school voters who will never let him get in.

Answer 2

No, McGwire wasn't blackballed. He was not voted into the Hall of Fame for a number of reasons. First, his refusal to "talk about the past" was considered an admission of guilt by pretty much everyone who follows baseball, and for that, he was made an example of. Many of the players from the 90's and into this century will also face close scrutiny when they become eligible. McGwire did one thing in his career, hit home runs, and aside from his first year in '87 when he hit 49, he wasn't great at that until he became huge in the mid-90s. His greatness came from steroids, and that's why he is not going into the Hall of Fame.

I'm not sure that "blackballed" is the right word for that. Blackballed would indicate that there is an agreement with those in the establishment not to let someone in, it's not always proven, but pretty much known by all. With the guys you listed, I think that teams simply didn't want them because of all the baggage, there was no need to blackball them Some of the athletes you mentioned, like Canseco and Tyson were washed up. Canseco had nothing to offer but a lot of strikeouts and the occasional home run. Boxing is struggling and would have loved Tyson to step up,but he had nothing left. It's possible that McSorley and Sprewell could have been blackballed, but it's also possible that no team wanted them because they were troublemakers and signing them would have been unpopular with fans. Owens is just a terribly selfish and maybe even ill human being. He tears teams apart and for no reason, other than maybe he enjoys it. There is no need to blackball him, he turns teams off by himself. Now that he is no longer a dominant receiver (he drops a ton of passes and is handled by decent DB's), he will have a hard time finding a new team that will put up with his garbage.

Answer 3

TO say that McGwire was blackballed you would have to have a complete lack of votes for him by the BBWAA. McGwire still received 127 or 23.5% of the vote I believe. That is almost one third of what is needed to get him in and more than a lot of people I think ARE deserving, like Rice and Gossage, got on their first ballot.

McGwire had more votes than Don Mattingly or Dale Murphy(who had 2 League MVP's)

So no, McGwire wasn't blackballed. He just didn't deserve to be there.

Many writers just believe that he should have stood up and said "NO!! I didn't use steroids" instead of his weak *** "I'm not here to talk about the past" answer to Congress. They felt it was an admission of guilt. And that admission of guilt denies him entrance into the HOF.

Shoeless Joe isnt in the Hall, Rose isnt in the Hall. And McGwire, Sosa, Palmiero and Bonds, all guys with the stats to be there, will not make because of the taint of cheating.

BTW, Perry didn't admit he cheated until AFTER his induction.

See you in Cooperstown on July 29th.

Answer 4

I don't know "black balled" is the right term. But the steroids allegations had very much to do with his being voted down this year. It's unfortunate because he did great things for Baseball after the debilitating labor disputes of the mid-90's and the incomplete season in 1994. Check out this post for more on Mark McGwire.

Answer 5

I don't really care if McGwire makes the HOF or not, I'm OK either way.

What I don't like is the fact that all of these writers who didn't vote for him are the same people who lionized McGwire when he was setting HR records. Endless stories about how he and Sosa "saved" baseball in 1998. No one can tell me that these writers didn't know McGwire, Sosa and company were juiced. They loved these guys when it made their job easier, but now that they're no longer performing on the field, they're pond scum.

The owners never did anything about it when these guys were supposedly "cheating"... the writers never wrote about it... McGwire and Sosa were NEVER criticized by the writers during their record setting seasons... so why should the writers now act all shocked and surprised to "find out" that these guys were juiced when they were playing? Bunch of hypocrites.

If the owners or writers were truly serious about steroids, then why didn't ANY of them ever call for McGwire to be banned from baseball DURING THE TIME THEY 'KNEW' HE WAS JUICED?
Because he put fan(nies) in the seats, that's why.... and that's the bottom line, to them.

This business about the writers say that they'd "forgive" McGwire if he'd only admit to "cheating" is a bunch of B.S. as well... remember when the writers said baseball would "forgive" Pete Rose if he signed a statement admitting to gambling? How'd THAT work out? It'd be the same thing with McGwire. The writers' response would be "We're no longer going to not vote for you for the HOF because we think you cheated... now we're going to not vote for you because you ADMITTED being a 'cheater' . "

As I said, I personally don't care if McGwire gets in or not... I just can't stand the hypocrisy of the baseball writers and baseball's owners... they all hate it when players use steriods, just don't ask me to get rid of MY steriod guys, because we need to keep fans in the seats, and fans dig the long ball. Chicago writers were the worst hypocrites when it came to Sosa.

Answer 6

What I find really nauseating is that people continue to talk about McGwire and no one talks about Shoeless Joe Jackson, a guy who it is widely accepted did nothing wrong (he was acquitted in court among other things), was a hitter of legendary talent (go check out what Ted Williams used to say about SJJ), and was blackballed by an egomaniacal idiot who thought that just because he said something that made it fact. Check out Shoeless Joe's numbers some time and see if you don't end up thinking that he's a helluva lot more worthy of HOF discussion than that pimple-ridden McGwire.

Answer 7

Not really. If McGwire isn't willing to stand up and defend his own character and the sport, I can't say he deserves to be there. What many people don't realize is that character is one of the determining factors of who goes into the hall. And McGwire really dropped the ball, so to speak, on that after he retired. I think the Hall is sending a good, strong message, and I hope every ball player is listening.

Answer 8

Ripken Jr and Gwynn are the epitome of class and great players well deserving of the hall of fame, I think McGwire brought on most of his problems by not being open and totally honest during the hearings and testimonies and that influenced the writers decision not to vote for him.

Answer 9

I think he is just the first one of the steroid era guys who is going to cause years on controversy when it comes to the Hall of Fame. He, Palmiero, Sosa all have the numbers to be there, but I guess they all will be "black balled" because of their actions. they did it to themselves, they gambled and lost basically. The real interesting thing will be when Bonds time for the Hall comes. He will have put up pretty much the best cumulative stats in baseball history by the time he is done, will the steroid issue be enough to keep him out too? If his alleged crimes are overlooked because of ridiculously good numbers, how can voters justify keeping the others out too? Reputation definitely factors into the votes, obviously. It is interesting that a known cheater like Gaylord Perry made it, but Rose, Mac, etc. are left out. I would not wanna be the one to have to answer these questions in real life!

Answer 10

Of course McGwire was blackballed because writers think he used steroids. That's their right, as voters, as long as the hall includes integrity and sportsmanship in their qualifications.

BUT - how many of these guys were writing articles accusing McGwire of cheating back in '98 when he was hitting 70 homers?

I think a few of them were, but a lot of them went along for the ride.