THE WEEK THAT WAS
Jim Rodriguez: Baseball's Hall of Fame needs to embrace everyone
Jim Rodriguez
Jan 25, 2018, 7:14 am
Roger Clemens did not make the Hall of Fame yet again. CultureMap.com
If you’ve ever been to the quaint hamlet of Cooperstown, NY, you know what I’m talking about. In that town is a living, breathing monument to baseball, The National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Soccer may be the beautiful game but baseball is the pure game. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying pure as in innocent. Not saying pure as in without fault.
I mean pure as in the Merriam-Webster definition: “containing nothing that does not properly belong.” That’s baseball. That’s America. The good and the bad of it.
So as the Hall welcomes in six new immortals: Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome, Alan Trammell and Jack Morris... I ask where are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and so on. You see, these guys “properly belong” in Cooperstown.
After all, what is the Baseball Hall of Fame? It’s a museum. It’s a place of education. It’s a place where a Roberto Clemente and a Ty Cobb can be under the same roof. It’s what truly makes America great.
Swing the doors open so Alex Rodriguez can be remembered for his 696 home runs AND his admission of using performance enhancing drugs.
I would build an exhibit explaining the steroid era of baseball. What did ‘the clear” do? What about “the cream?” Tell them about Jose Canseco and his needles. Tell them how it didn’t help guys hit balls 500 feet but how they could now play in Seattle on Wednesday, fly all night to New York and hit two homers on Thursday.
Tell people that from 1961 through 1994 three players hit 50 or more home runs in a season. It happened 23 times from 1995-2008. The top six home run seasons of all-time happened during this era capped off by Bonds’ 73 homer campaign in 2001. The man Bonds passed to be crowned baseball’s home run king, Henry Aaron, never hit 50 home runs in a season.
Tell them Sammy Sosa hit 66, 64 and 63 home runs in a season during this time. This was baseball’s Guilded Age.
Embrace the past so it may not happen again. Let the people know and decide what was real and what was lab built.
Don’t let them fool you with talk about integrity of the game. That went out in 1919 with the Black Sox and again when the World Series was cancelled in 1994.
I love baseball. I love all of it. The pretty and the ugly. They say that the real penance for guys like Bonds, Clemens and ARod will be exclusion from those hallowed halls.
Guys like that will never be erased. They don’t deserve to be forgotten. They deserve to be remembered for what they did.. the good and the bad.
In the end, it’s baseball. The pure game.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.