Gary Sheffield: HoF worthy?

[wannabegriffey]

This is the biggest issue I have with the entire situation. It's not as though PED use was a shock to anyone. Pundits everywhere lauded the "long ball", and cheered all of the top stars they're now damning. The hypocrisy of the whole thing really irritates me.

Wrong.

I remember arguing about the use of roids way back when and I was absolutely in the minority. People on here didn't want to believe.

[Gregg]

Throwing a game? Hell, he basically threw a whole season in Milwaukee. Combine that with his 'roid use, and the only way he should get in the Hall is with a paid ticket...and he ought to have to pay double.

Yep, should have been banned from baseball.

[Gregg]

I think Sheffield is a HOFer and will get in when MLB gets around to acknowledging that they just need to put an asterisk on the "steroid era" rather than picking and choosing which specific players to "punish" in the HOF voting.

Even if they give him a pass on the steroids, he still admitted to throwing a game and playing bad to get traded. Throwing games should keep you out of the HOF.

[Don Quixote]

The numbers are probably there, the attitude and baggage will likely keep him out.

Exactly. One hell of a hitter when motivated, but not motivated often enough, and too stupid to keep his mouth shut about it.

[onejayhawk]

One assessment: Dave Parker without the arm. I would say, without the defense.

Even without the controversy, his chances are mixed. From B-R:

Black Ink Batting - 4 (415), Average HOFer ≈ 27

Gray Ink Batting - 123 (153), Average HOFer ≈ 144

Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 156 (77), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 61 (28), Average HOFer ≈ 50

The stick is HoF worthy, but the ballplayer is a hinderence and the person even more so. I think he is out, when all is done.

Brian has it right. The era of PED's will be like the happy ball era of the 1930s. Just one of those things.

J

[amcg]

I think Sheffield is a HOFer and will get in when MLB gets around to acknowledging that they just need to put an asterisk on the "steroid era" rather than picking and choosing which specific players to "punish" in the HOF voting.

Asterisk being literal or figurative? Nay on the former; yay on the latter just like deadball and pre Jackie Robinson.

[amcg]

Well Kevin Brown will never get in. He only got 2% of the vote this past year, so he is off the ballot forever. Unless the veterans committee steps in when he has passed away or something.

Yep.

Years from now people will look at that 2% and wonder what the f**k the voters were doing.

[onejayhawk]

Kevin Brown was a jerk. Had he been a popular player and gone into broadcasting, I think he would have made it. Compare, for example, Don Drysdale.

J

[Pauly]

Kevin Brown was a jerk. Had he been a popular player and gone into broadcasting, I think he would have made it. Compare, for example, Don Drysdale.

J

he also had one of the best sliders ever.

[B-Fly]

Asterisk being literal or figurative? Nay on the former; yay on the latter just like deadball and pre Jackie Robinson.

Not literal on anyone's individual plaque, no, but I do think there should be an exhibit at the HOF addressing the steroid era and the cloud the era places over any and all player statistics during that era. The exhibit should probably document which players were named in the Mitchell Report, which players tested positive for steroids, which players acknowledged use of steroids - basically air it all in that exhibit - no whitewashing. And then you still have to, IMHO, admit the best players of that era, including Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, McGwire, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Clemens and Sheffield.

[onejayhawk]

he also had one of the best sliders ever.

If you double his NL stats, he is a no brainer. Pitching the first third of his career in Arlington buried his chances. It makes me wonder about Zack Grienke.

J