PART THREE POINT THREE THREE REPEATING:
Steroids and HGH were not the first drugs to take over the major leagues. It’s just about guaranteed that they won’t be the last ones either. Drugs addictions have proven to be a recent enough trend that a barometer has not been created to measure how much damage they can do to a players Hall of Fame chances. It could take a series of decades to create such a scale for judgment.
Sportswriters haven’t been presented with many cases where an addict’s career was so impressive that they should be inducted despite their vices. Dave Parker might come close, but even he is enough of a borderline case that he wouldn’t do the Hall too much damage if he were never to get in. Some players like Ferguson Jenkins, who I will discuss below, have had run-ins with drugs, but caught a break and made it into the Hall anyway.
Where is the line? Why do some players get breaks? What criteria will put a player over the line where drugs and vices stop mattering?
Parker, who I discussed at length in Part Two, was involved in a major cocaine scandal that shook baseball like an earthquake. In 1985 some of baseball’s biggest names, like Parker, Keith Hernandez, Vida Blue, and Tim Raines were ousted as being users and marched in front of a grand jury.
Montréal Outfielder Tim Raines stole at least 70 bases in every season from 1981-1986 (He stole 90 in 1983). His nickname, Tim “Rock” Raines comes from his connection with cocaine and is partnered with the story that Raines would only slide into bases head first so not to break the glass vile of coke resting in his back pocket during games [Burns, Ken. Baseball. PBS Films: Documentary DVD. 1994, 9th Inning].
Image: Time Raines Fleer Baseball Card
Raines’ numbers are Hall of Fame caliber. He has over 2,600 hits, a lifetime batting average of .294, ranks fiftieth all-time in runs scored with 1,571 and fifth all-time in stolen bases with 808. He was also a seven time all star. In this passed election, Raises finished with his highest turnout of induction votes ever (30.4%).
Keith Hernandez was a baseball hero and an eleven-time Gold Glove winner – the most ever for a First Baseman. He won the NL MVP in 1979 after hitting .344 with 111 RBI and 48 doubles. The cities of St Louis and New York loved him. He even appeared on an episode of Seinfeld in 1992. However, his use of drugs seemed to matter a bit more to the Hall of Fame voters than his popularity in the ‘Big Apple’ (possibly the first time that’s ever happened).
Image: Sports Illustrated April 7, 1980
Hernandez is a more borderline case than even Raines however. He compiled less than 2,200 hits, was never power hitter and topped out at 19 stolen bases as a career high. His .296 career batting average and all those Gold Gloves could be enough though… or might have been before the drugs.
Hernandez never drew much more than 10% of the induction vote before dropping below 5% after nine election years and was taken off the ballots.
The Character Clause exists for the sake of protecting the Hall from press that might damage its reputation. Allowing ballplayers – who may have purchased drugs from the Pittsburgh Pirates mascot -into their shrine of greatness could definitely prove damaging. Dave Parker’s testimony in the case that helped minimize the MLB Cocaine Scandal could prove a mixed blessing. While his testimony may have limited the movement of drugs through the game, it also may have been the final nail in his HOF coffin. (At least it busted the guy dealing coke out of the Pittsburgh Parrot suit…)
Image: Pittsburgh Pirates Official Website
Following his testimony, Parker and many others were suspended from baseball for a year. None of them missed a single game however. All of them wound up donating thousands of dollars to drug awareness charities and doing community service.
While the Hall doesn’t jump to take many outright political stances – they try to let the BBWAA and Vets Committee voters do that themselves – they have made it clear that there are some kinds of people they don’t want in their plaque room.
As it turns out, Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins wasn’t one of those unwelcomed types. Fergie was found to have cocaine and marijuana with him in Canada in 1980. As a result, Jenkins was banned from baseball. Baseball’s front office was trying to exemplify their lack of tolerance to drug use in the game. Jenkins banishment case was heard by an impartial/ independent arbitrator and Jenkins was quickly reinstated. Despite his drug problems his six consecutive 20 win seasons proved to be enough and he was enshrined in the Hall of fame in 1991.
To be fair, Jenkins was far better player than any of those other examples. But, again, where is the line?
Fergie actually got formally arrested for his offense.
Image: Sports Illustrated Vault 1980
Druggies, cheaters, racists, antisocial loners and narcissists always have a chance to get in the Hall – for right now at least – but the next group of Character Clause violators makes up a special list that is so important that they get their own eligibility rule.
Rule 3E: “Any player on Baseball’s ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate.”
The list of ineligible ballplayers is rather slim, but still more action-packed than most people know. In the official sense, such a formal list does not even exist. In fact, it is even pretty hard to find on the internet – especially if you are looking for trustworthy sources.
The list of ineligible players is made up mostly of gamblers. The most notable names on that list have been placed there for that exact reason.
If you’ve ever seen “Field of Dreams” you have heard of the Black Sox and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. If you have touched a baseball in the last twenty years you likely know who Pete Rose is. Those two are both Character exemptions and members of the Ineligible list. As a result, neither of those amazing players will ever be allowed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. If either player is removed from said list, induction will be possible, and likely, and the opinions of the Hall might start mattering a little more.
We will continue this thought in the next post… sorry about the gambling tease… I promise it will happen next.
