Hooray for Shaughnessy!

The 2010 AL Cy Young Award caused quite a debate with the best pitcher in the league, Felix Hernandez, having a surprisingly low win total.  While I am certainly glad that the voters got it "right" by my standards, I was a little saddened by the idea of the voters continuing to get it right.  As weird as that may sound, it would signal an end to these debates which in hindsight are often pretty fun.  I guess its a love/hate sort of thing.  It's not always enjoyable, and can often be frustrating, to argue about such things, but when it's for a case that you agree with so vehemently, dare I say those arguments become entertaining?

Anyways, in my brief period of sadness I forgot about the yearly Hall of Fame debate.   Recent awards have shown the the voters are leaning towards common sense, but that hasn't necessarily been the case for the Hall of Fame.  Lucky for us there is always Dan Shaughnessy!

Anything that this man writes is grounds for the FJM treatment, but I'll save you the time and just cut the the chase:

Finally, what do we do with Jeff Bagwell? He’s a career .297 hitter with 449 homers. He was an MVP. He won a Gold Glove. He had six straight seasons of 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs. His career on base percentage is .408. Bagwell never tested positive for anything. But like a lot of players who will follow him to the ballot, he was a guy who made you wonder.

If you care about “character,’’ snubbing guys who tested positive (Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, and Manny Ramirez) is easy. Bonds and Clemens are under indictment. But they’re just the tip of the iceberg. What happens to Sammy Sosa, Pudge Rodriguez, and other players who made you raise your eyebrows? What do we do with Bagwell, who may just be a victim of cheaters around him? Where is this going?

My personal belief is that this isn't a black or white situation, it's quite gray.  Steroids were so intertwined with the game that it is impossible, at least for me, to simply single out players who used and ban them from the Hall.  I do, however, understand how people could feel the opposite.  Mark McGwire admitted to steroid use and Rafael Palmeiro was caught, if that means that they can forever say goodbye to the Hall in your mind then so be it.

What I don't understand is how someone like Dan Shaugnessy could leave Bagwell off the ballot because "he was a guy who made you wonder."  That is totally unfair and completely irresponsible.  It'd be extraordinarily convenient to have a way of finding out who used, for how long they use and how it effected their performance.  Unfortunately such a list doesn't exist.  We do have a small list of people who have either admitted to steroid use or have been caught, and if you feel safe enough judging those players, then fine.  But it's simply not OK to "wonder" about someone when there hasn't been even a hint of evidence suggesting that they did anything illegal.

I agree with Shaugnessy that the Hall and its voters will be facing a big issue in the upcoming years but it's based on people who have been caught, not on people who we may arbitrarily "wonder" about.  No kidding,  I'd rather someone vote for Lenny Harris and his pinch-hitting record than leave off Bagwell because of that reasoning.  I'm not sure I've ever disagreed with someone's voting process more than this and frankly, it should be grounds to at least consider revoking someone's voting privileges.

Remember that little preamble where I was basically glad that we still have this to argue about?  Yea, I'm over that.