It appears that we can add Manny Ramirez’s name to the list of tainted sluggers, based on today’s report that he is about to be suspended 50 games for a positive steroid test. The interesting question, of course, is what this means not only for his Hall of Fame chances, but for the Hall of Fame chances of all players from the present era — players who played the bulk of their careers over the last 20 years.
Consider this list of players from the era who slugged at least 500 home runs (from Baseball Reference):
- Barry Bonds 762
- Ken Griffey 613
- Sammy Sosa 609
- Mark McGwire 583
- Rafael Palmeiro 569
- Alex Rodriguez 553
- Jim Thome 545
- Manny Ramirez 533
- Frank Thomas 521
- Gary Sheffield 500
That’s 10 players — of the 25 all-time — who played the majority of their careers after the mid-1980s. Of these 10, only three — Griffey, Thome and Thomas — have not been linked to steroids. McGwire, the only one on the list eligible to enter the Hall, has been snubbed for two years now, which seemed to make sense — until you consider that the steroid era has tainted so many players of all abilities that we can’t be sure that the players we think are clean really have been.
A-Rod is the case in point. He was the one guy — along with Griffey — who everyone viewed as squeeky clean on the issue and who nearly everyone was rooting for to pass Bonds and remove the taint on the record. Now, however, he is mired in steroid controversy, his accomplishments called into question.
I don’t think steroid users should be rewarded, but we have to acknowledge that the homerun barrage that has left the record book a shambles was not a product of steroids alone. A host of factors — smaller parks, more sophisticated workout regimens, awful pitching, a tendency to swing for the fences — contributed.
But the one thing that I think has become clear — at least to me — is that guys like McGwire, A-Rod and Manny have been playing by the rules as established by the culture of baseball and are likely not exceptions.
Hank Kalet 