But aren't.
The "Steroids Era," as it's known, in combination with the DH, has left these guys in HoF purgatory.
The June 10 Chicago Tribune [chicagotribune.com] made my case for me. In a fascinating little non-debate between its Hall of Fame-eligible sports reporters, they battle (not very much, really) over whether White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5908] is Hall material.
He's 36 years old. Has hit 407 homers. Has 2,093 hits, 1,294 RBI, has scored 1,072 times and has a .284 BA.
If he plays 4 more years and averages 25 homers (through age 40), he looks to be a shoe-in, right? The magic 500-homer mark, right? Will the White Sox, to whom he's been so loyal, taking less money in free agency to remain a "South-Sider," reward his loyalty a year-and-a-half from now when he's a 37-year-old free agent and pay him what he's been worth or what he'll be worth as his talents--and numbers--tail off? Tell that to the LA Angels of Anaheim and Albert Pujols. So far, at least.
Before steroids though, it wasn't necessarily 500 homers that made you a lock (hello Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff [http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/7869] at 493 homers - that season with the Cubs is gonna' jinx ya').
What got you into the Hall before steroids was how you played the game, not how you "hit."
But steroids have raised the bar. The 500-homer level is the standard, as is the 300-win total for pitchers. So, as in the Tribune piece, a player the likes of Jeff Bagwell [http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bagweje01.shtml], who likely never used steroids, is stuck at 449 homers and is likely not getting into the Hall.
He'll best be remembered though for things like not helping his Houston Astros team in the 2005 World Series by trying to play through an injury and hurting their chances to win. He put up abysmal stats (.125 BA in 4 games) against the White Sox and allowed Ozzie Guillen to out-manage Phil Garner in what would be the first World Series involving a team from the state of Texas.
Maybe steroids would've helped him hit 500 homers. Maybe steroids would've extended his career. Maybe steroids would've helped him heal faster and would have made him more effective in that World Series.
And maybe Paul Konerko has a chance to be in the Hall of Fame.
***
All of this goes to show that sports writers, the ones with Hall voting privileges, are brainwashed easily, their votes compromised that much more easily, by banned substances they don't even use.
I hope...
***
So I'm reading and reading about how Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has a chance to sign a bill and put slot machines in race tracks and put them on a level playing field with casinos which are sucking the life out of them by taking their customers.
If you believe that, then please know that you also believe, whether you believe it or not, that horse racing is nothing more than a gambling activity and every bit less a sport, every day.
Slot machines. At race tracks. Equals gambling. Not sports.
It's that simple.
And it creates funds that states want to use to alleviate their budget shortfalls via the taxes generated from gambling losses by people who gamble the most and can likely afford it the least.
***
Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424 Journal of Sports Media, University of Nebraska PressColumbia College Chicago, Department of JournalismHoward Schlossberg, Sports Correspondent, Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)
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