Recently, the voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America submitted their polls, and four players watched themselves become legends. Former Arizona Diamondbacks fireballer Randy Johnson, Red Sox Ace Pedro Martinez, Braves Starter/Closer John Smoltz, and Astros versatility man Craig Biggio, all were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Time to Move Beyond the Steroid Era?
BY DANIEL LOPES
Recently, the voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America submitted their polls, and four players watched themselves become legends. Former Arizona Diamondbacks fireballer Randy Johnson, Red Sox Ace Pedro Martinez, Braves Starter/Closer John Smoltz, and Astros versatility man Craig Biggio, all were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
This round of inductees was a very surprising turn of events, considering that normally two players at most make it to the Hall of Fame every year. Another glaring thing about this year’s election is the lack of steroid era (the 1990’s) players inducted, including Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens.
The steroid era is a touchy subject when it comes to players, seeing as using steroids is a huge advantage in baseball. Muscles build quicker and injuries are easier to recover from. The general consensus of writers is that players who either used steroids or were questioned about using steroids do not belong in the Hall of Fame. However, some writers do believe that even though there were players that used steroids, they still need the talent to throw or hit a baseball with great success, which is something not many people can do.
I believe that, like any other time of baseball, the steroid era players deserve to be considered to be inducted.
Other facts about this years Hall of Fame class is that Randy Johnson, at a whopping 6 feet, 10 inches, is the tallest player in the history of the Hall of Fame (the next tallest is 6 foot 5 inches). Pedro Martinez, at 5 feet 11 inches, becomes the shortest player to be inducted since Whitey Ford in 1974. John Smoltz is the only player in MLB history to have 200 wins and 100 saves. Lastly, Craig Biggio, a seven-time all star, was one of the more versatile players in the game, played a total of six different positions in his career.
These four players will be officially inducted into the Cooperstown baseball Hall of Fame on July 26th of this year.
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