Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 20, 2022
Major League Baseball returned to relative normalcy in 2021 following the 60 game Covid-laden season MLB stumbled through in 2020. MLB suited up for a full complement of games in 2021 culminating in the 117th World Series being won by the Atlanta Braves over the Houston Astros four games to two. This was the second championship for the Braves in Atlanta and fourth in franchise history.
Fans returned to ballparks around the nation, including at the minor league level, which had been shuttered through the entirety of the 2020 season. Fans were ushered into stadiums initially on a limited basis and allowed the numbers to grow throughout the season until reaching full capacity. Fans and stadium personnel alike donned masks as per Covid requirements, but at least with the roar of the crowds (albeit muffled) and the familiar smells wafting through the ballparks, there was finally some joy in Mudville.
If only the traditional rules of our beloved game were restored to their proper order. Gone should be seven inning doubleheaders, extra innings beginning with a runner on second base, relief pitchers required to pitch to either three batters or the end of the inning, circumstances where the home team bats in the tops of innings and a visiting team has the opportunity for the very unusual walk-off. At least the National League dropped the designated hitter, and quite frankly so should the American League as well, but that seems like a pipedream, especially with the current Players Association contract under renegotiation.
The traditionally active Hot Stove season is currently dormant thanks to the lockout by the teams’ owners in the every few years battle between billionaires and millionaires while the fans face rising ticket prices and insane costs for parking, food, and souvenirs. The silence of the mostly snow encrusted stadiums is matched by the no talk, no contact lockout. Yet while the ballparks enjoy their winter slumber, there is business of the utmost importance emerging from Cooperstown on Tuesday, January 25.
The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is finalizing their votes to determine who will fill the Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Is this finally the year for Curt Schilling? How about the likes of Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens - tainted by substance allegations? The only way steroid/HGH-addled balloteers should be admitted to the Hall of Fame is with a paid ticket for admission to the museum.
“We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don’t belong here,” wrote late Hall of Famer Joe Morgan in a November 2017 letter to the BBWAA, hoping to influence their Hall votes in 2018. Hopefully Morgan’s letter continues to resonate in 2022 as cheaters such as Bonds and Clemens inch closer to the magic number of 75 percent - enough to grant one admission to the Hall.
The cloud of controversy has been dark and heavy, while initially eliminating some from Hall of Fame contention. Yet in the cases of Bonds and Clemens, the BBWAA voters’ support of Bonds rose from 60.7 percent in 2020 to 61.8 percent in 2021, and Clemens’ totals jumped from 61 percent in 2020 to 61.6 percent in 2021. Fortunately, remaining in low numbers are Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez. Sosa’s support moved from 13.9 percent in 2020 to 17 percent in 2021, while voting for Ramirez remained unchanged at 28.2 percent in 2021, his fifth year on the ballot. Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa are on the ballot for their tenth and final year, and hopefully they will not reach the vaunted 75 percent in 2022.
The voting results are due to be released on Tuesday, January 25. In previous years I have complained that the ballots of the voting members of the BBWAA are not released to the public. Now, the BBWAA has gone to the opposite extreme. Updates regarding the running percentage of votes received for the Hall candidates are disclosed periodically leading up to the vote deadline. This is a dangerous practice as those results could potentially influence the members of the BBWAA who have not yet cast their ballots - especially when personalities or personal bias is at play. Those votes should be announced for public consumption - after the Hall of Fame makes its official announcement of who has vaulted the 75 percent threshold. Let the BBWAA voters defend their votes as I defend mine, even if not as a member of the BBWAA.
A prime example is Dan Shaughnessy with The Boston Globe. For the second year in a row, Shaughnessy will cast his lone vote for Jeff Kent, explaining that his vote is a protest against the steroid players. Members of the BBWAA are permitted to vote for up to 10 candidates, but many do not vote for 10. In my annual Hall of Fame column I have never supported 10 candidates in any given year. I remain a consistent and virulent opponent of the steroid players and will continue to do so for the next 10 years as Alex Rodriguez (A-Roid) steps up to the plate to begin his balloting journey.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a so-called character clause. “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the team(s) on which the player played.” So-called because it has existed since 1945 and more than a fair share of miscreants have found their way to Cooperstown. (https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/bbwaa-rules-for-election)
With voting in mind, were I a privileged member of the BBWAA charged with the task of electing the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2022, only four former major leaguers would earn my votes - three holdovers and one fresh face - David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Of those four, maybe two will be enshrined on Sunday July 24 - hopefully Ortiz and Schilling. Thirteen retirees are on the ballot for the first time with an additional 17 holdovers. Candidates who do not attain 75 percent of the vote must receive at least five percent of the vote or will be eliminated from future consideration. Of those 13, only two are worthy of discussion - Ortiz and Rodriguez. The last thing to be said about A-Roid speaks volumes as to why he should never earn a plaque in Cooperstown. Admitting his use of steroids/banned substances, Rodriguez found himself suspended for 211 games from August 2013 through the entire 2014 season.
As an anti-steroid baseball fan, I feel compelled to address the elephant in the room. According to www.cbssports.com, a story leaked in 2009 that Ortiz was one of more than 100 active players to have failed a test in 2003 indicating use of a substance that had NOT been banned by Major League Baseball. That same story also indicated that Ortiz passed hundreds of subsequent tests, failing exactly none of them over the last 13 years of his MLB career. He had no involvement in the BioGenesis scandal, nor have any teammates or opponents ever suggested Ortiz behaved in an illegal manner.
Now onto the positive. Ortiz, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, spent the first six seasons of his 20 year career (1997-2016) with the Minnesota Twins, but truly excelled and flourished the remaining 14 with the Boston Red Sox. Not just a premier player, Ortiz was beloved by the Fenway Faithful, and his love of the fans was reciprocated. This was especially true when an ebullient Big Papi took to the microphone and gave an impassioned speech condemning the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in 2013 and reminding the fans to remain Boston Strong to a rousing ovation.
Those ovations came often throughout his career, as Ortiz slammed 541 home runs, good for 17th on the all time list; ripped 1,191 extra base hits, ranking him eighth in the majors; 632 doubles - 12th place; 1,768 RBI - 23rd all time; as well as 2,472 hits and 1,419 runs scored. Ortiz garnered MVP votes in eight seasons and made 10 All Star teams, drove in more than 100 runs 10 times, and batted over .300 seven times accomplishing all four in his final season. Ortiz seemed to have found the Fountain of Youth in that career ending season of 2016 batting .315 with a Major League leading .620 slugging percentage and 48 doubles, along with an American League leading 127 RBI. He also hit 38 homers that season. Not a bad swan song. Ortiz was equally productive in the postseason batting .289 with 17 home runs, 22 doubles, 61 RBI, and 51 runs scored in 85 games. Ortiz played on three World Series winning teams (2004, 2007, and 2013) winning the MVP in 2013.
Curt Schilling could finally reach 75 percent in this, his tenth year on the ballot. Schilling inched ever so closer leading all candidates in 2021 with 71.1 percent, up from 70 percent in 2020. Schilling, bloody sock and all, is a six-time All Star who pitched 20 seasons in the big leagues – three with the Orioles, one with the Astros, eight-plus with the Phillies, three-plus with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then calling it a career with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling tossed 83 complete games, and had three 20-plus win seasons within a four year span at ages 36, 38, and 39. Schilling, a member of three World Series winning teams (2001, 2004, and 2007 - Diamondbacks and Red Sox) was outstanding in the postseason. Schilling posted an 11-2 postseason record and a 2.23 ERA in 133 innings, of which he went 4-1 in the World Series with a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings. In 2001, Schilling shared World Series MVP honors with teammate Randy Johnson, already enshrined in Cooperstown, and was a Red Sox teammate with Ortiz in the 2004 and 2007 World Series triumphs. Schilling should have his ticket stamped this summer – was my mistaken prediction the last nine years, and while I believe some members of the BBWAA are holding his politics against him, Schilling still belongs among those earning a plaque in Cooperstown.
While the 2004 World Series ended an 87 year drought for the Red Sox, getting there may have been more memorable. Playing the hated Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox fell behind three games to none before marching back, winning the final four games, a feat never before accomplished. Sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in that famed World Series seemed an inevitable aftermath. (Just don’t remind the 1986 Red Sox players and their fans about inevitability.)
Omar Vizquel, was the quintessential shortstop of a generation, having won 11 Gold Glove awards during his 24 year career, second most at that position all time. Vizquel was also the oldest shortstop to win a Gold Glove, having done so at age 39 in 2006. After five years with the Seattle Mariners, Vizquel took his talents to Cleveland continuing to be the defensive gem that will vault him into Cooperstown.
Vizquel was three times an All Star, overshadowed by Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, elected to Cooperstown in a near-unanimous vote in 2020. On the field, Vizquel led the league in Fielding Percentage six times as a shortstop and is the all time leader in Fielding Percentage at .985. Vizquel shares the season record with Cal Ripken, Jr. for committing the fewest errors by a shortstop playing in at least 150 games with a paltry three. Additionally, Vizquel is first all time in double plays turned by a shortstop, third all time in assists at shortstop, and 11th all time in putouts made by a shortstop.
At bat, Vizquel compares rather favorably to Hall of Fame shortstops Ozzie Smith, Luis Aparicio, and Luke Appling. Vizquel hit more home runs than Smith and Appling, trailing Aparicio by only three. Vizquel drove in more runs than Smith and Aparicio, stole more bases than Appling, hit for a higher batting average than Smith and Aparicio, while collecting more hits than all three. This is the fifth year on the ballot for Vizquel, having dropped from 52.6 percent of the vote in 2020, to 41.1 percent in 2021. Vizquel’s numbers may dip even further in 2022 due to allegations of a rather serious nature. Until they are adjudicated, I will not traffic in rumors and/or innuendo. Should Vizquel be found guilty, I will withdraw my support of his entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In his fourth year on the ballot, Todd Helton has earned my support. The 17-year MLB veteran played his entire career with the Colorado Rockies (1997-2013) batting .316 in 2,247 games with 2,519 hits, 369 home runs, scoring 1,401 runs, and driving in 1,406 runs. The Knoxville native finished second in the 1998 Rookie of the Year balloting, earning five All Star game selections in consecutive years, from 2000 through 2004. Appearing on MVP ballots in six years, Helton’s breakout season was in 2000, leading the National League in hits with 216 and all of MLB with 59 doubles, 147 RBI and a .372 batting average, yet could only manage a fifth place finish in the MVP race that season. Earning 29.2 percent of the votes in 2020, Helton enjoyed a sizable bump up to 44.9 percent in 2021, but will more than likely not earn induction this summer.
While it is important to not sully the Baseball Hall of Fame with the likes of Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez, Sosa, and Rodriguez, the focus must be on the greats who will be enshrined this July and how they will continue to be the true ambassadors to the game of baseball as so many before them have been. Sadly, this is an ever shrinking community. While the Class of 2021 remained bereft of new members, three members passed away - all in January within 15 days of one another, following a year of loss as seven Hall of Famers died in 2020. Longtime Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda died on January 7 at age 93, followed by pitcher Don Dutton 11 days later on January 18 at age 75, and four days later, on January 22, Mr. Henry Aaron, the true home run king, died at age 86.
Tommy Lasorda (09/22/1927 - 01/07/2021) entered the Hall of Fame as a manager in 1997 spending the entirety of his managerial career with the Dodgers from 1976 through 1996. During his tenure he led his team to four National League pennants and two World Series titles in 1981 against the Yankees and in 1988 versus the Oakland Athletics. In Game One of the 1988 World Series a barely able to walk Kirk Gibson made Lasorda look like a genius. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, trailing four to three and one runner on base, Gibson, in his lone at bat of the entire World Series, clouted a pinch hit two-run homer to win the game five to four in a series the Dodgers would win in five games. Only in Hollywood.
Don Sutton (04/02/1945 - 01/18/2021) pitched six of his 23 seasons (1966-88) for Lasorda as a member of the Dodgers, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1998 receiving 81.6 percent of the votes. Sutton won 324 games, placing him 14th on the all time list; striking out 3,574 batters, good for seventh place; tossing 5,282 innings, also good for seventh place; and issuing 58 shutouts, putting him in 10th place all time. Sutton was named to four All Star teams and earned votes for the Cy Young Award five times. The Dodgers retired Sutton’s number 20 in 1998. Additionally, Sutton worked 30 years behind the mic for the Dodgers, Braves, and Nationals - 27 for the Braves, who inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2015.
Mr. Henry Aaron - yes, he preferred Henry to the media-assigned Hank (02/05/1934 - 01/22/2021) played 21 of his 23 seasons with the aforementioned Braves. He entered the Hall of Fame on his first try in 1982 garnering 97.8 percent of the vote. Who were the nine BBWAA members of the 415 not to have voted for Aaron? Did they drop into Earth from Saturn? Aaron began his MLB career in Milwaukee with the Braves (moving to Atlanta in 1966) in 1954 and concluded his career back in Milwaukee in 1976 with the Brewers. During that time Aaron put up such prolific numbers that still rank among the elites. His 2,297 RBI, 1,477 extra base hits, and 6,856 total bases are still number one in all of Major League Baseball. Aaron’s 3,771 base hits rank third all time, and his 2,174 runs scored place him second. His 756 home runs should still be best in MLB history, but that’s a different argument for a different day.
What must be said about Aaron and his home run total is the difficulty he endured while chasing the almighty Babe Ruth. Ruth retired with 714 home runs in 1935 - a record that stood almost 40 years. As Aaron climbed the home run ladder, reaching 500 in 1968, 600 in 1971, and ending the 1973 season with 713 - exactly one shy of tying Ruth, Aaron received torrents of death threats both orally and in writing - G-d forbid a Black player should pass the legendary Babe Ruth. Aaron handled the threats and pressure that accompanied them with grace and aplomb - the same way he played baseball and carried himself in life. When Bonds passed Aaron with home run number 756 in 2007, Aaron had a congratulatory video message for Bonds played at the San Francisco Giants stadium. A class act, no surprise.
On May 17, 1970, when Aaron collected his 3,000th base hit, he became the first player in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Aaron’s Braves defeated the Yankees in the 1957 World Series, the same year he won his lone MVP award. Aaron earned votes for the MVP in 19 seasons, appeared on 25 All Star teams (1959-62 two All Star games would be played each season), won three Gold Gloves, and two batting titles. In 2002 Henry Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed upon an American civilian, by President Goerge W. Bush.
May their memories be for a Blessing, and may 2022 be a better, healthier year for one and all, and may the baseball season start on time.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He has been a Patron-level member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 2007.
