Clemens, Bonds, Rodriguez and the HOF: How to Test Your Real Position
January 19, 2012 · Harold Friend · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
It’s easy to take the high ground when discussing performance-enhancing substances. For some individuals, it’s even easier to decide that Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire should be kept out of the Hall of Fame because they cheated.
There are many computer/board baseball games that allow fans to replay past seasons. APBA’s “Baseball for Windows” and Stratomatic’s “Strat-O-Baseball” rank among the top simulation games.
Here comes the good part.
You have decided to join one of the many leagues that exists for either APBA or Stratomatic. There will be two divisions of six teams each, with one wild card.
Each of the 16 “general managers” must select 25 players from the 2000-07 seasons. Once a player is selected, regardless of which season the selection is based upon, another team cannot select him.
Each “general manager” must pay a $100 fee to join the league. The league champion receives $1,000 for winning. The rest of the money is divided among the top losers.
How many individuals whose position is that Clemens, Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and others, such as Sammy Sosa and Jeff Bagwell shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame would select any one of them for their computer game team?
It is a fascinating question because it’s “put up or shut up.”
If you select a cheater or an alleged cheater for your team, how can you claim that he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame? Don’t give the duplicitous response that there is a difference between a computer simulation team and the Hall of Fame.
Please explain why a major league general manager who wants to put the best team he can on the field shouldn’t employ the services of Alex Rodriguez or Roger Clemens but a computer game “general manager” can.
The only difference is that the stakes are much higher with real baseball teams.
As Jerry Springer might say, each of us is entitled to her or his values. Each of us has the right to disagree with the results of the Hall of Fame voting. But regardless of an individual’s position, there must be honesty and consistency.
To criticize a player for using performance-enhancing substances, believing strongly that he should not be a Hall of Famer and then selecting him for your team because you want to be awarded $1,000 seems a little disingenuous as well as inconsistent.
Read more New York Yankees news on BleacherReport.com
Yankee Tickets
Shop Yankee
