Bill Plaschke‘s upset because Manny Ramirez didn’t use his return to Chavez Ravine as an opportunity to personally fellate every Dodger fan in attendance, Barry Bonds biographer Jeff Pearlman takes a more reasoned approach to the PED era’s prior Public Enemy No. 1.
Blogging at JeffPealrman.com, the “Love Me, Hate Me” author heard WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Joe Beningo defend The Sultan Of Surly’s Hall Of Fame candidacy and replies, “Barry Bonds doesn™t belong in the Hall of Fame. Not even in the Hall of Some Fame. Or Hall of Moderate Fame.”
I™m not sure what happened in this country ¦ when, at some point, it became OK to accept cheating. Perhaps it has to do with volume”sooo many people have cheated that we started grading the level of cheats. If, say, Alex Sanchez took steroids, it™s somehow worse than Bonds, because the drugs probably made him a major leaguer. Bonds merely used the stuff as enhancers.
Here is, literally, what the Hall of Fame lists as its criteria:
“Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player™s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on
which the player played.”
Interity. Sportsmanship. Character. Think about it. Really, really think about it. Using that criteria”the stated, understood criteria”how can anyone knowingly vote for someone who cheated? I don™t care if Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa hit 1,000 home runs and batted .700 for the first 10 years of their careers. As soon as they chose to cheat”to violate the law of the United States in an effort to enhance their careers”they deemed themselves ineligible.
As a journalist, if I™m struggling in the midst of crippling writer™s block, do I copy the work of others? As a doctor, do I over-bill the insurance company, even though I didn™t perform the listen procedure? As a student, do I sit diagonally behind the smart kid and copy his answers? As a cop, do I file a faulty report to make myself look better?