Hall of Fame has no plans to change eligibility rules for PED era
Despite the intentional submissions of blank ballots from some voters this winter due to an unwillingness to select player's linked to performance-enhancing drugs, the Baseball Hall of Fame has no intentions of altering rules to prevent previously suspended or suspected users from being excluded from the ballot.
"Rules are always a topic of conversation and thought," HOF president Jeff Idelson told Jayson Stark of ESPN. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about any of our sets of rules for election.
"(But) bottom line is, we still feel very comfortable with the character, integrity and sportsmanship portion of the rule that asks that those characteristics be evaluated in terms of candidacy for election. Could they change in the future? It's always possible. But sitting here today, we're comfortable (with those rules) as they are."
The Baseball Writers' Association of America nominated three new players into Cooperstown this month - Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez - while suspected PED-users Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds saw significant gains in their fifth year on the ballot.
| Year | Clemens | Bonds |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 54.1% | 53.8% |
| 2016 | 45.2% | 44.3% |
| 2015 | 37.5% | 36.8% |
| 2014 | 35.4% | 34/7% |
| 2013 | 37.6% | 36.2% |
The inclusion of Bonds and Clemens, in addition to formally suspended user Manny Ramirez on the ballot has been a controversial topic for some voters. Murray Chass submitted a blank ballot this year, saying that he either didn't feel that any player deserved to be in or that they "used stuff." Bill Livingston also submitted a blank ballot, claiming that he would not vote for anyone until baseball decides what to do about the steroid era.
The criteria to get elected into Cooperstown is based somewhat on a character clause, though Idelson acknowledges that's open to be interpreted by voters how they see fit.
"I don't know how else to define character, integrity and sportsmanship, or how else to provide guidance," Idelson told Stark. "When I have conversations with writers about asking for guidance, there really isn't a follow-up as to what that would be. So I guess I'm not sure what more guidance writers would want."