Aug 8

Aug 8 Why Roger Clemens Should Be in the Hall of Fame

Why Roger Clemens should go into the Hall of Fame with the Red Sox

There is no doubt that the Hall of Fame debate sometimes circles around those that used steroids during the steroids era of the 90s- and it is argued by some baseball writers that, because of their steroid use, they don’t deserve to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

However, what if I were to tell you there may be a reasonable solution to allow them to go into the Hall of Fame that would work for the majority that were named?

As an example, for the purpose of this article, we are going to use comparisons of the careers of Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

So what is the solution for a lot of these players? Allow them to go in, but the years that they used steroids should not be recognised. Roger Clemens is the perfect example as to how this can work!

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens didn’t get accused of steroid use until 1998, when he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Prior to joining Toronto, Clemens already had a storied career with the Boston Red Sox where he still probably had enough good stats to get into the hall.

His statistics as a Red Sox included four Cy Young’s and a 20 strikeout game. He later did it again after having left the Red Sox, and he is tied with Max Scherzer, Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson for the most strikeouts in a single game in history. Nobody has been able to push to the 21st strikeout.

In his years with the Red Sox, Clemens finished either first or second in the league in strikeouts in nine of the eleven years that he was with them.

It is very possible that, minus having won a world series, all of his other numbers were staggeringly good enough to have made it to the Hall of Fame.

If all of that wasn’t good enough, you should also keep in mind that the Rocket also played for three other teams during his career when you average his statistics.

After having left Boston, Clemens spent the bulk of the rest of his career with the American League East rivals Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and then he spent one year with the Astros.

For example, when you look at wins, he had ten double digit win seasons with the Red Sox and a combined nine other double digit win seasons between the other three teams that he pitched with.

Keep in mind that during the majority of the years, he was with these three other teams, this was when he was supposedly taking performance-enhancing drugs.

So, after reading all of this you still may be wondering why putting Clemens exclusively into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Sox is a real solution?

It’s because the years he played steroid free were some of his best years, and these aren’t being included or recognised.

After all, the 80s and 90s brought some of the most exciting years in baseball, but many players are excluded from the Hall of Fame as a result- including two players who basically had a race to beat Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs during the 1998 season between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

However, this solution may not be a one size fits all- and we will also do an examination of McGwire and Sosa. McGwire is another proposed example of how it could work, but Sosa can be used as an example to the contrary.

Mark McGwire

Just like with Clemens, by the time McGwire reached his second team- the Saint Louis Cardinals- he had already had a storied career with the Oakland A’s as one of the members of the “bash brothers” times of the 80s and 90s, alongside Ricky Henderson and Jose Canseco.

In matter of fact, it was McGwire’s first year with the Cardinals- 1998, the year he had the run off with Sosa for the most homers in a season that he got busted for taking human growth hormones (HGH).

So what did McGwire do in Oakland? As a member of the Bash Brothers McGwire, actually one of his two World Series’ in Oakland only strengthens the case that he should go in exclusively as a member of the Oakland Athletics.

When you look at his statistics during his years with the the A’s, he averaged around 30 homers a season, which totaled out to 329 of his 583 career homers, so that doesn’t even count the season he surpassed Roger Maris.

While 30 homers may barely seem more than average during the years he was with Oakland, keep in mind that during most of those years, a little more than 30 homers was good enough to lead the league in homers.

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa is a good example of an exception as to why some players may still be left out of the Hall of Fame. Why? The majority of his career, including his prime, was with the Chicago Cubs.

For those who may not know, Sosa also played for the Rangers in 1989 and eventually went to the White Sox in 1991 where he eventually ended up with the Chicago Cubs.

His last year was a stint with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005.

When further examining Sosa’s career outside of the Cubs, it is simply not Hall of Fame worthy. In those six seasons, he only played more than 106 games one time and never broke the 30 home run barrier during that time.

So, does this whole idea of only counting part of a players career when they weren’t cheating something worth considering? Definitely! Will it truly include everybody who deserves to a place in the Hall of Fame? Probably not. But it’s still better than the system we have now!