The history of Baseball can be used as a metaphor for the history of America. Regional antagonism, Racism, Immigration, Sexism, and Internationalism are all a part of Baseball's history. And something unexpected finally happened the other day which will make people think long and hard about how Gambling should relate to the sport.
As I write this entry, the Commissioner of Baseball has removed both the late Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson from the Ineligible List (Banned from Baseball), making them eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Even though I think only "Shoeless" Joe should finally get his place in the hall of fame, it's simply because there is no convincing proof that he acted to throw the World Series. Pete Rose once admitted that he gambled on Baseball while still involved in the sport, and I feel that this may be enough to keep him out, despite his record as a player. (I would not be upset if Rose were to be voted into the hall of fame. It's a question of whether it can be proven whether he harmed the sport or not, given today's embrace of betting on baseball games.)
What other Hall of Fame "worthy" players? Two names, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds come to mind. They played part of their careers in the "Juicing" era. Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) were in common use by many baseball stars. Even though these two players are known to have "Juiced", the big question is: Would they have excelled without PEDs? Other players chose not to juice up, and no one says a word about them. There are hall of fame worthy players in that era who are known to have never juiced. Yet, there is a "generation" of ball players who have not been selected for the hall, simply because of when they played. Might a simple way of dealing with the problems of great players known for having juiced be simply admitting them based on their records, but to mark those records with a big asterisk?
One can say that cheating has been a part of baseball since it's beginning. The sport wants people to see it as being angelic, when everyone involved is subject to the same temptations as the rest of us. None of us are angels. So I hope that Shoeless Joe finally gets his rightful space in the hall, while players such as Barry Bonds are kept out because they have been caught cheating.
