The Rocket That Cooperstown Should Never Welcome!

nj.com

Hail as I do from Dayton, Ohio, I should be proud that one of our native born Buckeyes was one of the greatest pitchers who ever played Major League Baseball.  Pride is not what I feel, however,  when I think about Roger Clemens.   The winner of 354 games, his statistics are in rarified air.  A lifetime E.R.A. of 3.12 with 4,672 strikeouts.  Yes, these stats and the many others he accumulated over the years with the Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays should not be enough to earn him a spot or plaque among the many great pitchers that are enshrined at Cooperstown. 

Clemens like Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and a endless list of big league players who chose to enhance their God-given abilities on the field by artificial means do not stand as tall as the Cooperstown greats.  One only has to visit the small, sleepy community in New York to recognize the hallowed ground that was established to celebrate the careers of these all-time greats. 

The Rocket won the Cy Young Award seven times.  No pitcher can claim such a feat but to put his name next to Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson and dozens of others is not right.  Clemens was an 11-time All Star pitcher, has two World Series rings and was voted American League Most Valuable Player in 1986.  Still, Roger Clemens was a cheater and deserves to be left out come induction time. 

Fortunately, the Baseball Writers Association, the ones chosen to vote yea or nay on former greats have already weighed in on candidates who cheated themselves and the game.  They have voted no each time so far and one can only hope that they continue this stance going forward.  The greats enshrined in the Hall of Fame deserve better teammates.  Not to say that many who are on the plaques of Cooperstown were outstanding men, many were not.  They did not cheat though.  They earned their way into the Hall of Fame by playing by the rules.

Many believe that Pete Rose has been shafted by the Baseball Writers for not being inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Pete Rose violated the rules of Major League Baseball by betting on baseball games.  What about Shoeless Joe Jackson who was part of the Chicago Black Sox scandal where players accepted money to change the result of World Series games.  These two great players of the game violated Major League Baseball rules and are not enshrined at Cooperstown.  Neither one of them were cheaters.

Clemens only made matters worse for himself when he lied to Congress.  Sure, he was exonerated of these charges but everyone knows the truth.  I truly believe being excluded from the Hall of Fame will surely be the best punishment for the Rocket as any the court could devise.  It has been for Pete Rose.  The baseball fan has to hope that the steroid era of Major League Baseball is a thing of the past.  What must not be forgotten is that these steroid-aided players do not deserve the same recognition of their peers who played the game fair and by the rules.