Steroid Era Players, Welcome to the Hall of Fame!

The flood gates are open ladies and gentleman as the first player from the steroid era to either be linked to or suspected of steroid use has made his way into Cooperstown, New York. Congratulations goes out to former New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza on his Hall of Fame candidacy, it’s been a long time coming. It’s also a sign that the times are changing around Major League Baseball, especially in the Hall of Fame voting process. Jon Heyman already went out and defended the fact that he put Barry Bonds on his HOF ballot and you can see now that the numbers for Bonds and Clemens are continuing to rise every year giving hope to anyone and everyone from the steroid era. With Piazza’s induction I can see more and more players from that era getting in, eventually.

Piazza shared the same stage as Ken Griffey Jr. on Wednesday and will share that same stage when they are officially inducted into the Hall later this year. How can you keep out Clemens and Bonds when the sole reason that Piazza was left off was his suspicion of steroid use? You can’t and the doors are about to be ripped from their hinges.

Piazza was a 12-time All-Star and hit 427 home runs in his career with a .922 OPS which both set the tone for the offensive catcher that we see in today’s game. Piazza was a trend setter and he changed the game, suspicion for steroids or not. And that’s the thing, he’s suspected of it. He was never linked to steroids during his career, he wasn’t on the Mitchell Report, and he wasn’t linked to BALCO or Biogenesis or whatever the craze was back then. Nothing. He hit home runs in an era that was tainted by many that hit home runs. That’s all. A wrong has been righted and I can’t say I have ever been prouder of the BBWAA right now. Congrats Mike and congrats to Junior Griffey!

Isn’t it ironic that the man that Roger Clemens threw a splintered bat at during the 2000 World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets may be the same man that gets him into the Hall of Fame? Should Clemens send a thank you card? How does one react in these situations? I for sure don’t know… 

Hall of Fame Case for Former Yankee Gary Sheffield

With the 2015 Hall of Fame vote just around the corner there are a ton of questions regarding who is in, who is out, who did steroids and who will be punished for playing with steroid users. We all know the cases for Randy Johnson, he’s in, Pedro Martinez, he’s in, John Smoltz, he’s likely in with his relief work, and former Yankees Don Mattingly, likely not in, and Tim Raines, likely not in as well, but what about Gary Sheffield?

Sheffield played 22 seasons with eight different teams including the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers,  San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Atlanta Braves. Sheffield finished with 509 home runs while ranking 26^th all-time in RBI with 1,676 and 58^th all-time in OPS with a .907 mark. The only members of the 500 home run club that are not in the Hall are all linked to steroids and/or have failed a test in Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro so on paper Sheffield seems like a safe bet to get in. The same can be said for the RBI totals as only Bonds and Palmeiro have more RBI than Sheffield.  Sheffield finished with a career .292 batting average and stole 253 bases in his career.

Sheffield was a nine time All Star, a five time Silver Slugger winner and a National League batting champion with the Florida Marlins. Sheffield never struck out more than 83 times in a season and had more walks than K’s in 16 different seasons. All that means nothing if he is simply lumped into the “steroid era” and his numbers are looked at as dirty. His advanced metrics could also work against him as he spent 302 games in his career as a DH and posted numerous negative ratings defensively in his career. Sheffield finished with an accumulative 60.2 WAR which places him behind non Hall of Fame players like Jim Edmonds and Reggie Smith but ahead of Hall of Fame players like Yogi Berra and Willie Stargell for their careers.

If we’re looking just at his offensive work he does have an offensive WAR of 79.9 which ranks only behind Bonds in eligible Hall players but will it be enough? Rickey Henderson is the only player to ever get into the Hall after playing for as many as eight different teams, he played for nine, and that could obviously also work against Sheffield. What also works against Sheffield is the fact that he was named to the Mitchell Report and testified in the BALCO trial although he was named after receiving some cream that helped with healing stitches after knee surgery. Whether Sheffield was telling the truth or not, and honestly I believe that he was, that may be the most damning factor of all.

So does he get in? In 2015, probably not. 2016 and beyond, absolutely. 

Alex Rodriguez Meets With BALCO Owner Victor Conte

Alex Rodriguez and the Bronx Is Burning Part II will be back after these messages from BALCO.

Remember BALCO? The Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi steroid company that began blowing the roof off the steroids crowd? Well in 2012 Alex Rodriguez visited Victor Conte and BALCO with former NFL player Bill Romanowski in search of legal supplements to help with his performance. The Yankees had an off day in Oakland last May before starting a series with the Oakland Athletics and A Rod took advantage of the off day to try and get a step up on the competition, again.

You may remember Conte's name as he served four months in prison for conspiring to distribute steroids and money laundering when the BALCO fall out came to light. Conte initially declined to meet with Alex before reportedly receiving an uninvited Alex at his doorstep asking about the supplements. If you care Conte recommended protein shakes and taking a zinc, calcium, and magnesium based  product out of his diet.