Not sure why it’s so hard for Hall of Fame voters to get on board with the ideas that (a) it’s not fair to assume someone was on steroids when there is no evidence of it; and (b) Jeff Bagwell, on the merits, posted a Hall of Fame career. But considering it’s highly unlikely he’ll be inducted this year, a healthy number of voters have a hard time with those concepts.
Thank goodness for Ken Rosenthal, then. I don’t agree with everything he says in his Hall of Fame column -- what fun would that be? -- but how anyone can disagree with this is beyond me.
When voting, one should only consider the facts at hand. If Bagwell is later revealed to have been a user, maybe I will stop voting for him, if he isn’t already in the Hall. There is little doubt that he is deserving otherwise, unless you’re somehow unimpressed by his .408 on-base percentage and .540 slugging mark, not to mention his baserunning, defense at first base and leadership of the Astros during his 15-year career ... For now, all I know is one thing: I’m not withholding votes based on hearsay and innuendo.
Imagine.
