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Home run hitters strike out on my ballot
Home run hitters strike out on my ballot, By: Hank Greenwald
12/08/2006
AS FAR AS I'm concerned, it all starts and ends with Pete Rose.
While this piece is supposed to deal with Mark McGwire's suitability for the Baseball Hall of Fame, it cannot be viewed without the shadow Pete Rose cast upon it. As long as the integrity of the game is a yardstick thrown into the equation, it ought to be applied equally.
If Pete Rose's record as a player isn't good enough, on what basis should Mark McGwire make it?
I realize Major League Baseball has a rule where those on the ineligible list cannot be in Cooperstown, but it makes no sense. One has nothing to do with the other.
What Rose did as a player merits inclusion in the Hall. What he did as a manager deserves banishment from the game. They are two separate issues.
In McGwire's case, I think it's pretty simple. The issues of steroids and stupidity before Congress aside, I don't believe his playing record is good enough.
Ever since baseball reached the point where there was no longer any shame in striking out, I stopped being impressed by home run totals. When you come to the plate and all you're trying to do is hit home runs, then 583 in almost 6,200 at-bats doesn't seem like that big an accomplishment.
Baseball has changed. It's time to shed the outdated concept that 500 home runs should qualify for a plaque on the wall in that cute little village in New York. In fact, I'm beginning to have doubts about 300 wins for a pitcher in an era when most of them barely finish six innings.
It could be argued that Babe Ruth struck out a lot, and he did. However, somehow amid the home runs and strikeouts, he managed a career batting average of .342.
Oh, by the way, he also spent five seasons as a pitcher. Do you think had he played every day during that period he might have hit a few more home runs? Do you think?
If one goes solely on McGwire's record, it establishes him as one of the premier sluggers of his day. Does this make him a Hall of Famer? I think not.
If you want to get into the issue of the integrity of the game, his actions, if guilty, should eliminate him without question.
Baseball should be ashamed of itself with respect to the integrity issue. Commissioner Bud Light pats himself on the back about the cosmetic changes regarding steroids, which was prompted only by threats from Congress.
Suspending players for steroids while doing nothing about the use of human growth hormones is like sanctioning North Korea by cutting off their subscriptions to Good Housekeeping Magazine. I don't remember reading anything about human growth hormones in the new collective bargaining agreement.
McGwire may have done some foolish things in his career, but those who knew what was going on and turned their backs were guilty of far worse.
Greenwald, 71, did two stints as the San Francisco Giants radio announcer, 1979-86 and 1989-1996. He spent two years on Yankees radio in between and was an Oakland A's TV announcer in 2004. He also called the Warriors and USF basketball earlier in his career.
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