The 2011 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America will be announced tomorrow. Wednesday's post will talk about who got in and who didn't, but I wanted to talk about the one player who definitely, no questions asked, should never have a plaque in Cooperstown.
Rafael Palmeiro.
Palmeiro tested positve for performance enhancing drugs in 2005 and was suspended for 10 games (that would have earned him a 50 game suspension now). Amazingly, he continues to wag his finger at us, like he did to Congress, and deny that he took PEDs.
On the face of it, Palmeiro has no question, first ballot Hall of Fame numbers. Over 500 home runs, over 3,000 hits. Won 3 Gold Gloves (although one was in 1999 when he only played 28 games at first base. He must have made Keith Hernandez look like Dick Stuart in those 28 games.)
One of the few bright lines you can draw when evaluating players of the Steroid Era is this: if a player tested positive after the testing program went into effect, you don't get into the Hall of Fame. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe mentions this when he talks about the Hall of Fame, and I think it's a very valid response to exclude guys that we KNOW cheated.
I'm looking at you, Manny Ramirez.
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