04/19/24
November 22, 2017
Joe Morgan: "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.":
With the release of the 2018 Hall of Fame ballot this week, Joe Morgan has penned a letter that has been sent to all the Hall of Fame voters in the BBWAA.
The only thing I miss about Joe Morgan not providing color analysis to ESPN baseball broadcasts is the Fire Joe Morgan blog. Are those guys writing anywhere else these days?
posted by NoMich at 12:07 PM on November 22, 2017
After Joe Morgan said this, I saw a tweet that replaced "steroid" with "amphetamine" and reminded me of past discussions here where outrage is directed at the 'roiders.
I'm starting to warm to that argument. No one who took amphetamines while playing should be sanctimonious about 'roids.
posted by rcade at 12:21 PM on November 22, 2017
In 2010, when Ken Burns's THE TENTH INNING first came out, I wrote here about something Washington, DC sportswriter Thomas Boswell said in it. I just watched it again and, through the magic of DVR, can now give the exact quote. Boswell was referring to Jose Canseco's PED-usage, which first came to light in 1988: "There was another player, now in the Hall of Fame, who literally stood with me and mixed something. I said, What's that?' And he said It's a Jose Canseco milkshake.' And that year that Hall of Famer hit more home runs than he ever hit any other year."
Who was this mystery man? Assuming Boswell's account is accurate, we're looking for a player (presumably a non-pitcher) after 1987 who hit more homers than in any other year, and was elected to the Hall of Fame by 2010. There are only four players who fit this description: Ryne Sandberg, Cal Ripken, Paul Molitor, and Tony Gwynn.
posted by grum@work at 01:31 PM on November 22, 2017
Gwynn's pretty meaningless in that list - except for a few odd years, he could still hit single digit home runs and the description would be accurate. But, he hit 14 in 1986. He wasn't able to top that until 11 years later, when he hit 17 in 1997, with only one other two-digit season in the interim. But I can totally believe Gwynn would mess with a reporter by calling something a Jose Canseco milshake.
posted by LionIndex at 12:11 AM on November 23, 2017
Here is the list of everyone that played during the 15 seasons of the "steroid era" (Bash Brothers to Bonds' 73HR, 1987-2001) that made it to the HOF (so far):
Roberto Alomar
Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Bert Blyleven
Wade Boggs
George Brett
Steve Carlton
Gary Carter
Andre Dawson
Dennis Eckersley
Carlton Fisk
Tom Glavine
Rich Gossage
Ken Griffey Jr.
Tony Gwynn
Rickey Henderson
Reggie Jackson
Randy Johnson
Barry Larkin
Greg Maddux
Pedro Martinez
Paul Molitor
Eddie Murray
Phil Niekro
Mike Piazza
Kirby Puckett
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Cal Ripken
Ivan Rodriguez
Nolan Ryan
Ryne Sandberg
Mike Schmidt
Ozzie Smith
John Smoltz
Bruce Sutter
Don Sutton
Frank Thomas
Dave Winfield
Robin Yount
I'd be willing to bet good money that at least one if not a few of those players tried steroids at least once in their career.
Sorry, Joe. I'm pretty sure there are already steroid users in the baseball HOF.