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
