Saturday, January 12, 2013

Message Received!


Message Received!

    I know for sure that there are many opinions about the BBWAA writer’s decision not to vote anyone into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. The conversations sparked by this decision tell me that people are extremely emotional about it. I’ve heard some very thought provoking arguments on both sides and I have also heard some mean hearted and straight up insulting comments as well. I do believe that everyone has a right to voice his or her opinions, but maybe everyone shouldn’t always speak it so freely on Twitter.

      Now I love Twitter and how it allows me to speak or comment on what’s going on in the world of baseball. Wednesday, after hearing the news that no one was getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, I took it upon myself to voice my opinion on Twitter. I tweeted “I believe #MLB sportswriters made a bold statement today! I’m glad they stood up for “ALL” the players who did it the right way. THX!!!” My comment was retweeted by some people who liked the statement and mocked by some others who didn’t respect it or my 10-year major league career. But I know, as one guy so nicely reminded me, that my numbers are no-where close to being HOF worthy. However, my name was on the same lockers in the same locker rooms as the players of this “Steroid Era”. I have the credentials and knowledge to speak on this subject.

     The so-called “Steroid Era” is such a mess for the writers to deal with because there is no starting or ending date. They have no idea how many players actually used Performance Enhancing Drugs. Combine this with an era of no drug testing policy in place, and you have a true conundrum.

Do you let guys get in because you never heard anything about them using? Do you keep guys out because their names were rumored to have possibly used? Do you throw out the numbers and not let anyone from this era in? That seems a little extreme, but what do you do? To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t want the burden of figuring this out. The imminent truth is, for the next 15-20 years players from this era will be on the HOF ballots. 

      I know that this era of baseball is a cloudy one. One that seems will never be viewed in the proper light again. I believe in my heart these same writers that are being put down, spoken of negatively and some even called stupid for their personal decisions, will one day get it figured it out.
     Of course there were many players that should have gotten into the Hall of Fame that got caught up in the middle of this mess. I want it to be known that none of my comments are aimed at them. I just wanted to acknowledge the BBWAA writers who stood up and spoke up with the stroke of their pens. Message well sent and hopefully received by all.

Marlon Anderson