Roger Clemens was declared not guilty of lying to Congress about taking performance enhancing drugs and obstructing justice. I believe he took PEDs, but of course I can’t prove it.
A jury did not convict Barry Bonds of taking PEDs but did convict him of obstruction. I believe he took PEDs, but can’t prove it.
I think the feds should get out of the drug enforcement business in sports. Let the sports legislate themselves.
It will be interesting what happens when Bonds and Clemens come up before Hall of Fame voters next fall. I am inclined not to vote for them the first time, but haven’t totally made up my mind.
If you were a voter with these two, what would you do?
Mark M
I’d never vote either in. I don’t get how we repeatedly fail to hold cheaters accountable. I don’t care who does it. Both should pay for their mistake and examples should be made of them
June 18th, 2012 4:03 pm
CohnZohn
Mark M, I agree with you in principle. But neither was proven to have taken the stuff? What do you do in cases like those?
June 18th, 2012 4:25 pm
Dave T
First- Absolutely Congress and the Government need to get out of trying to stick their nose into sports and get back to what we allegedly elected them for, running the country. And sports definitively does not fall into their scope. Hopefully losing three high profile cases where they spent a lot of tax payer money (Bonds, Clemens and I include Armstrong here) will finally stop chasing these high profile cases, where, let’s face it, their attorneys are FAR better than those the U.S. Justice Department can come up with. Enough with the witch hunts already!
Second, HOF voting. Here is my take. If you are goint to ultimately vote for a player, do it the first time they are eligible. The whole 1st ballot HOF inductee vs. not being as such is a bunch of garbage. Add to that you are right and neither were proven to have taken anything and if we want to go by the letter of the rules now, all those players who took “greenies” to play the game would be banned too. Bottom line, it was NOT, repeat NOT against the written rules of the game when they allegedly took them. Just as it would be impossible and unfair to punish those that took “greenies” in my example, it is unfair to punish those who did not break the rules in arears. If that is the case we better go back and strip HOF status from numerous MLB, NBA and NFL players of such honors (Not sure if the NHL has the sme such issues).
So to me, if you plan on voting for them, vote for them. If you don’t, don’t. For my money, they are two of the most dominant players of their time and in baseball history. And until we can prove who did or did not use, then we must judge them against their peers. In that light, they are both far and away HOF worthy.
June 18th, 2012 5:10 pm
Stan
Its like why that black kid pleaded guilty to rape…and served over five years in prison. Why would he plead guilty ?..Like I posted here last year..the law exploits poor and accused-they expect the poor to knuckle under because it wont cost them thousands to defend themselves OR risk being found guilty and serving years in prison.
AND-why they wont prosecute the wealthy..why risk losing the DA figures and put a spot on his record? Anybody who thinks we have a great legal system-fight a ticket..that’s just a tip of the iceberg on how our legal system makes everybody involved a VERY good living..a tax for the rest of us.
And don’t be surprised if Sandusky gets a veritable slap on the wrist.
June 18th, 2012 5:48 pm
KauaiRobert
I started and stopped typing four times.
.
Four different thoughts; four different responses.
.
Type. Erase. Type. Erase.
.
Honestly, I don’t know what to think or say or write about all this PED stuff anymore.
.
McGuire…not guilty.
.
Bonds…not guilty.
.
Clemens…not guilty.
.
At this point…let them do what ever the hell they like.
.
Who cares.
.
Disappointing.
.
.
.
*ALOHA*
June 18th, 2012 5:51 pm
Tiburon Dave
To my knowledge, Pete Rose was never convicted of illegal gambling but he’s out of baseball to preserve “the integrity of the game” what a joke…
Bonds wasn’t convicted because his trainer spent two years in the can rather than testify.
Clemens wasn’t convicted because the US Attorney botched the first trial.
As a HOF voter you either take a position on principle or stick your head in the sand while mumbling quietly to yourself about greenees in the 1960’s and about Ty Cobb being a racist bum.
Even the US Doping Agency finally grew a pair regarding Lance Armstrong and decided that a feathered water fowl that quacks is indeed a duck.
Leave these guys on the sidelines with Maguire and Sosa…it’s where they all belong…
June 18th, 2012 5:56 pm
Stan
More? The 49ers have a rapist.. a fetus with his DNA was aborted by a woman he claims he never met.
A jury found him not guilty.
If big money lawyers can manipulate jurors on something like that..now you know how corporations get away with paying no taxes and hundreds of millions bonuses?
Sometimes I wish I had been a Republican..they money I could have conned out of people…I could have taken ALL your last dollars and ..bought a sports station in San Francisco.
June 18th, 2012 5:59 pm
m. walsh
Sorry, but I would not vote for either of them on the first ballot and would have a hard time ever voting for them because they are cheaters.
Shoeless Joe Jackson, an acknowledged functional illiterate, who supposedly was part of the 1919 Blacksox Scandal, but really had no part of the fix, still cannot get into the HoF, so why should these two guys??????
At least Shoeless Joe did not go before congress and lie and then get away with it.
June 18th, 2012 6:50 pm
Bryan
I agree with Dave T. If you feel you will vote for Barry in the future, you’re basically saying you feel he belongs there. So why not vote for him now?
June 18th, 2012 7:06 pm
EatMyCumulous
Oh I’m sure the president will find a way to classify congress’ actions in the Bonds and Clemens cases as “green jobs”. It is therefore a great victory for our country. I’m so proud my hard earned tax dollars have contributed to saving our environment.
June 18th, 2012 7:18 pm
jason
Feds needs to hire better lawyers. They’ve been on quite a losing streak lately, both in and outside of sports (John Edwards).
June 18th, 2012 7:39 pm
B-Rad
I hope that Jerry Sandusky didn’t have the money to hire a
top-flight team of criminal defense attorneys.
June 18th, 2012 8:55 pm
Dennis
On what grounds would you vote? The fact that you know something, or you think you know something? If you know something you need to come forward and spill it out. If you think you know something you need to prove it. Unless I could prove otherwise I would let them both in – first ballot. They broke too many records not to be in. Baseball is entertainment and you have to admit they were very entertaining.
June 18th, 2012 10:30 pm
Gooselosgatos
Its about Sterois but rather they perjured themselves. The subject matter is irrelevant.
You can’t send the message that it’s fine to lie in a court of law.
June 19th, 2012 7:01 am
mendozaline
Can you not vote for Mark McGwire because of PEDs yet cast a vote for Tony LaRussa?
Also, for another voice on PEDs check out Eric Walker
http://steroids-and-baseball.com/
His point that MLB can change stats by changing the baseball has new life with the current rush of no hitters.
June 19th, 2012 7:46 am
Bray
Dave T has it right. Even better would be to eliminate sports writers from voting altogether, they have WAY too many agendas and personal grudges. Let the players vote for the HOF.
I can’t stand Clemens, Bonds doesn’t bother me as much, but anyone who watched these guys play knows that they were 2 of the best to ever play, the history of the game CANNOT be written without them, put them in on the 1st ballot.
Why is basball so elitist with so many people trying to ‘defend the honor’ of the game? That is such hooey, like they have anything to do with it. IMO, any records before blacks and latinos played should have the proverbial asterisk if they want to put one on Bonds. But these ‘elitists’ don’t want to talk about that.
Plain and simple, they are entertainer’s. Nobody stopped going to see Elvis cuz he was on a ton of barbituates, or Jerry Garcia because he may have dropped some acid and smoked a joint before the show. Please people, 95% of you couldn’t wait to see Bonds bat or Clemens pitch, if you liked them or not.
June 19th, 2012 8:57 am
Stan
I said it before..but it just shows how we want to believe in the honest nature of man..in the early 90′s I never thought steroids..and watched TV news cut baseballs in half to see if they were altered. Nah,they were all just cheating it turned out on roids.
Sometimes I really hate that I know what I know.
June 19th, 2012 10:07 am
Bray
Stan- It’s kindal like the mantra, “choose your battles carefully’. Sometimes it’s self preserverance, if you don’t have to, don’t even go down that road, there are WAY TOO many that will lead to general distrust and sadness.
I don’t have time to ‘feel bad’ or ‘find the truth’ for all that is wrong in this world. We will NEVER [I hate that word}know the scope of PED’s, so let it go, let it go…
Unless you like self punishment or course.
June 19th, 2012 10:23 am
latopia
O.J. was “acquitted”. So was Robert Blake. Are they innocent? We’re not talking about life or death here. It’s the HOF. Sports is still about “fair play.” The Black Sox remain blackballed. Shoeless Joe is still homeless. They were acquitted at “trial”. \Why is this difficult?
June 19th, 2012 10:39 am
gary
Lowell
Bonds Did test positive for PED–the clear.
however, he indicated he did not know what it was…………ho,ho,ho.
Clemens lied before Congress. While I agree
Congress should be monitoring sports for PEDs,
it was the lying under oath that got him in hot water. His attorney team must have been
good, as the got a guilty man off scott free.
HOF this year? No, for sure.
In subsequent years, I would leave them off as well. Black eyes for the sport. Manny,
et al, leave them off too. They forfieted the right to be in the HOF.
June 19th, 2012 11:05 am
Stan
Bray-how true.
Funny how things are..strange that I would hear Ralph Barberi bash me for posting about KNBR..then two years later he’s hooked up with a lawyer I tried to hire to battle the corrupt CSU system..crazy world.,,and they both agree apparently with me now about KNBR.
And well,the CSU system isn’t exactly admired.
On your last point..
No,I hate pain…
June 19th, 2012 11:34 am
Mark M
Proven how? Both tested positive or admitted it supposedly, somewhere along the line. They and others are on the master list baseball released a few years ago. We’re not talking about jail time here where a court of law is required. We’re talking about baseball related penalties a la Pete Rose. I see what Goodell is doing in the NFL with bounty gate and applaud it. I wish he were the commish of baseball as well.
June 19th, 2012 11:41 am
Dave T
Bray has it right too. These guys are entertainers, period. They play a game and we pay to go see it. I want the best possible performance when I go see a movie, play, concert, show or sporting event. We asked for it, we got it, best performance.
“Chicks dig the long ball” – Greg Maddux (cue backround music)
June 19th, 2012 4:49 pm
Tommy CostaRica
I’m with you Dave T, I miss roidball and 70+ homers a year. Can you imagine the Beatles, the Stones or Led Zepplin without weed? Let the players be the best they can possible be and like Bonds they’ll get over it.
June 20th, 2012 7:01 am