The Dis-Unification of the MLB
David Ortiz was the lone inductee of the 2022 MLB Hall of Fame voting, signifying the rigid and outdated system that has left out some of the MLB’s best players.
Barry Bonds. Roger Clemons. Curt Schilling. Three players that are Hall of Fame-caliber will not make Cooperstown. The media played a role in the growth of the MLB by creating and popularizing the sport during the 1900s. However, despite more than a century of professional baseball in America, there are still problems with the MLB Hall of Fame voting process. While a change to the process is not immediate and unlikely to be changed given the history of baseball and risk upheaving the entire system, the current MLB HOF process excludes some of the best players the sport had to offer, which should divide people amongst a "dying" sport.
There is a legitimate argument that three of MLB's best players are not in the Hall of Fame, with all-time hits leaders, Pete Rose, the player with the most Cy Young Award wins, Roger Clemons, and now home run king, Barry Bonds, excluded from the Hall in 2022. Looking deeper into these fantastic players with ties to PEDs, not one tried to make amends with the press. After all, the MLB HOF voters are writers who have covered the sport for 10+ years and have seen these players up close. That makes it more upsetting and brings it to the bottom line, in that the MLB HOF is an exclusive club, and a positive media presence is necessary to join Cooperstown's exclusivity. These players did not have strong relationships with the Hall of Fame voters. That is what ended up costing them their shot at Cooperstown, not their stance on performance-enhancing drugs, which many argue, including on the Arm Barn: Episode 4, that steroids have helped grow baseball by bringing attention to the game.
Take David Ortiz, for example, the three-time World Series Champion who slugged over 500 home runs and was the player the Red Sox needed to deliver in playoff moments, and he sure did. Ortiz was never controversial due to his connection with all types of people, even those of his rival team. Big Papi was the only player to make the Hall of Fame in 2022 because with his postseason heroics and terrific production, Ortiz was—and still is—a man of the people, or in the case of the Hall of Fame, a man of the press.
While many say that what happens on the field determines whether a player is worthy of making the Hall of Fame, the truth is the off field (now) matters more. Hall of Fame players have done far worse than Bonds, Clemons, or even Schilling's actions, and they made the Hall of Fame. The MLB media determining the legacy of a player is ridiculous. It would prove complete hypocrisy if Alex Rodriguez, who has failed drug tests and even admitted to using steroids in 2017, makes the Hall of Fame over legends such as Bonds or Clemons. Baseball needs to be unified when a lack of adequate marketing has cost the sport. It is fair to say the public agrees that the MLB Hall of Fame process needs change. Animosity is building between fans of the sport and the media. People need to understand that the only way to grow the game is through connection and appealing to new fan bases. When there is as much controversy as there is in the MLB Hall of Fame process, it hurts the sport more than helps it. The best players need to be in the MLB HOF, period, and the 2022 process is indicative of MLB’s Cooperstown flaw.
Reference Page
GettyImages
Baseball Reference