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Baseball Hall Voters Reject Plan to Weigh Steroid Use

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 14, 2009 3:32 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The Baseball Writers’ Association of America—which decides the annual Hall of Fame class—has voted down an attempt to make new guidelines for players implicated in steroid use, the AP reports. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander had suggested a committee be formed to create new rules that acknowledged the effect of recent doping scandals; the motion was voted down, 30-25.

Current guidelines require voters to consider a player’s “record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played” when deciding the inductees. A player must get 75% of the vote to join the Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire, the first big-name steroids suspect eligible for the Hall, got 118 votes this year—21.9%—down from 128 in his first 2 attempts.

Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, right, and St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire (25) chat at first base in 1999.
Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, right, and St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire (25) chat at first base in 1999.   (AP Photo)
Former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.
Former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.   (AP Photo)
Baseball fans gather outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame Cooperstown, N.Y.
Baseball fans gather outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame Cooperstown, N.Y.   (AP Photo)
Tony Gwynn, a 2007 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, looks at Hall of Fame plaques during a visit to Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tony Gwynn, a 2007 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, looks at Hall of Fame plaques during a visit to Cooperstown, N.Y.   (AP Photo)
Visitors look at the Legends of Baseball plaques at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
Visitors look at the Legends of Baseball plaques at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.   (Getty Images)
A 1998 file photo shows St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire.
A 1998 file photo shows St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
Yourself
Jul 15, 2009 5:24 AM CDT
"reject plan to weigh steroid use" yeah, cause then they'd have no one left to induct into the hall.. not rocket science..
Derni
Jul 15, 2009 1:55 AM CDT
Baseball -like other sports-is big business-so I don't care about baseball anymore-there are rules and then there ARE RULES=who cares anymore
RobN
Jul 15, 2009 1:24 AM CDT
Strength is not that vital? If strength were not that vital then Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, et al would not have been using. If you're interested, check the Bond's season where he broke the homerun record and see how many of those homers should have been routine outs to the outfield but carried over the fence. Check the ones where contact was barely a check swing that still carried over the fence. It's available on youtube and it's a lot.

 
steroids • voting • Baseball Writers' Association of America • Baseball Hall of Fame • Mark McGwire • sports doping • baseball • steroid use • juicing • Rick Telander

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