It's Bothering Me That Everyone Has Been Killing Manny Ramirez For Taking Steroids

Manny Ramirez retired from baseball last Friday, April 8th.  It's taken me until this morning to find anything that anyone has said (in print or otherwise) that doesn't pretty much say this:  "Manny Ramirez is a cheater.  He always has been and he should never, ever have a chance of sniffing the Hall of Fame."

Now that is not an actual quote from anyone, but it seems to be the prevailing school of thought among experts and sportswriters everywhere.  Colin Cowherd, Freddie Coleman (when subbing in for Cowherd), Dan Patrick, Doug Gottlieb, Jayson Stark, and Buster Olney are a few that have said that there is "no way" Manny should be considered for the Hall of Fame.  Yahoo's Jeff Passan, ESPN's Tim Kurkjian and SI's duo of Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci all seem to agree, though their stances aren't as strong against Manny and the Hall.

If you're curious, here are the only semi-positive things I've seen written about Manny Ramirez.

ESPN's Buster Olney even said the other day that he would vote for Mark McGwire, but wouldn't not be voting for Manny Ramirez.  Hey, I'm no ESPN baseball expert, but that sounds a tad bit double-standard-ish, if you ask me.

The other day, I linked this article by Ty Duffy over at The Big Lead, where he asked the question if the Hall of Fame really matters that much anymore?  Here is the expanded quote about it:

Asterisk debates are passe. Manny Ramirez will be judged against his peers. In his case, the peers he dominated – 12-straight seasons with a 140 OPS+ or higher – were often taking steroids, HGH and amphetamines as well.

Manny’s disgrace may keep him from the Hall of Fame, but does Cooperstown even matter? The voting process has been endlessly scrutinized. Induction isn’t the mark of immortality it was once perceived to be. It’s the collective, controversial whim of aging sportswriters many of whom (a) hold personal grudges and (b) remain willfully ignorant of the sport they cover.

It’s madness, with votes subject to arguments such as Jim Rice being “capable of inducing an intentional walk with the bases loaded” used as justification when Jim Rice never induced an intentional walk with the bases loaded. Some writers will address history honestly and dispassionately. Some will clamber up Mt. Pious to make a sanctimonious moral stand. The respective numbers of each is largely irrelevant.

I'm a pretty big baseball fan, and I don't spend hours upon hours arguing or hoping that my favorite players' career statistical numbers are good enough to get them into the Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame isn't something that I care that much about.  To me, as a fan, it's really just something for baseball writers to vote on, write about and argue about with each other.  The subject of the Hall of Fame does provide good conversation on sports radio though, so I'll give it credit for that.

To me, the dumbest thing about the baseball Hall of Fame is the case of Jim Rice getting in last year, after waiting 14 years and getting voted in on his last year of eligibility.  Some have argued that he should have been in long before his last year of eligibility, but the fact remains that he basically got in because everyone felt sorry for him and the poor guy "had waited long enough."  What a joke.

Sooner or later the Hall of Fame is going to have to deal with all these "steroid era" players that are coming down the line.  Bonds, Clemens, Palmiero, Sosa, McGwire, and now Ramirez.  These aren't the only guys that baseball and it's Hall of Fame are going to have to deal with.  The story isn't over yet, not by a long shot.  The brass in Cooperstown may not want to admit it, but they've got a lot of work sorting cheaters from the non-cheaters coming in the next couple of decades.

If you ask me, they just need to let them all in or keep them all out.  Yes, it may be oversimplifying it to put it like that.  But I think that is quickly becoming their only option.  They need to start accepting steroid users based on their gaudy, inflated numbers or shut the Hall of Fame down completely.  Because baseball is quickly running out of HOF-worthy stars who are 100% clean of performing-enhancing drugs.  

Manny Ramirez dominated the game of baseball against his peers, many of whom were also using PEDs.  Judge him against those players.  We need to stop judging present day ball players against the pure baseball bodies of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.  The game of baseball has changed and will never be the same.  Former MLBPA director Donald Fehr once claimed that only 5% of baseball players were using or had used PEDs.  I think he forgot a 9 in there, as in it's more like 95% are using or have used PEDs.  Baseball purists need to stop kidding themselves and accept this. 

Because I sure have accepted it.  When Sosa, Clemens, McGwire and Bonds were initially outed as steroid users a few years ago, I was pissed.  I mean pissed right the hell off.  Seriously.  I wanted them all locked up and thrown in jail.  And I would have thrown away the key.  But there have been so many rumored or confirmed steroid users since then, that it takes way too much energy to figure out who's cheating and who isn't.  So I've given up racking my brain trying to figure out what players are left that have the right combination of production (high) and cheating (low) to deem worthy for the uber-sacred honor that is the MLB Hall of Fame.

There is no question that Manny Ramirez has the numbers.  When the time comes, the baseball writers need to get over themselves, bite the bullet and put ol' Man-Ram in the Hall of Fame.