# Hall of Fame Voting

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 21, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108 "2011-02-21T13:27:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108/21 "2011-02-24T04:01:34Z")

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> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> Steroid accusations are going to twist the vote for the next generation. Would you vote for Bonds? His numbers are incredible.

Of course.

> [@markdash](#):
>
> (Was the league even interested in enforcing the rule? Did they look the other way?)

Could the league have enforced this “rule” without the union on board?

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**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108/22 "2011-02-24T04:45:52Z")

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> [@markdash](#):
>
> This is fair. It was technically against the rules to use steroids prior to testing, but nobody was ever caught using, possessing or distributing steroids in that period. So whether it would be technically possible for a player to run afoul of the “rule” without being grossly careless is another question entirely. (Was the league even interested in enforcing the rule? Did they look the other way?)
> 
> Perhaps I should clarify and say that it would be unfair to penalize a player for a transgression that the MLB itself has not acted upon. Pete Rose, Joe Jackson et al. were suspended by MLB itself so holding that against them for HOF voting is appropriate.

It is not that simple. Bonds had his best seasons, and put up phenomenal numbers when his age said he should have been on the downside of his abilities. He got huge and gained strength and bat speed. Then his name showed up in Conte’s office. Conte was involved in HGH, steroids and anything else that would give an athlete an edge. He developed systems and routines to mask and to get maximum benefit.  
Bonds watched Sosa and McGwire get all the accolades knowing he was a better player than they were. I suspect the temptation was too irresistible.  
The legal argument avoids the ethical and moral dilemmas the players were facing . I personally think use was rampant all over sports. I suppose ignoring use is the only way not to penalize an honest player of the steroid era. Give an asterisk to the whole generation but vote them in if the numbers force you to.

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108/23 "2011-02-24T11:07:54Z")

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> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> vote them in if the numbers force you to.

Numbers are tools. Tools don’t force me to do things. (Sometimes I talk tools into things.)

In this case, the stats are unreliable, and in the interest of caution, I’m withholding support unless I can be pretty sure that the candidates did NOT use PEDs.

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hall-of-fame-voting/572108/24 "2011-02-24T12:25:03Z")

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> [@markdash](#):
>
> 100% yes.
> 
> He should have gotten in if he had retired after the 1998 season (by all accounts, his last “clean” season).
> 
> If you acknowledge that and still don’t think he belongs in, you are being punitive for the sake of being punitive, and for something that was not expressly against the rules of MLB at the time.

Can we all agree that Barry Bonds, while one of the greatest ballplayers of all time, is a surly prick who’s never cared what the public thinks of him?

Good. So… if your logic holds, why didn’t he state publicly and defiantly, “Hell yeah, I used steroids, and it was legal, so shut the f\*\*kup about it”?

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