1982 Hall of Fame
What makes a man Hall of Fame worthy? There is no official checklist of accomplishments, but certain things help. There are also things that keep you out, either officially or in the eyes of the BBWAA voters. The 1982 ballot featured a couple names together that reflected some of those arguments, and a couple more in the future will fuel the arguments. I give you Roger Maris and Hank Aaron on the '82 ballot, as well as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds in the future.
Roger Maris: Single Season Home Run champion (as of the 1982 vote)
Hank Aaron: Career Home Run champion (as of the 1982 vote)
Mark McGwire: Single Season Home Run champion (1998-2001)
Barry Bonds: Single Season Home Run champion (2001-now) and current career Home Run champion
Only Hank Aaron is in the Hall of Fame. He was elected in his 1st vote. Roger Maris went 0-15 in his votes and McGwire and Bonds fared no better. The logic was varied. Maris had one of the greatest single seasons for a hitter, but his overall career numbers and accomplishments were seen as a bit lacking for the voters. Aaron never got that close to the single season record, but he put together a career that not only attained him the home run crown, but a flush resume deserving of Cooperstown. As for Bonds and McGwire, they had resumes that looked favorable for the HoF, but as mentioned at the beginning, there are things that in the eyes of the voters that make you unworthy of enshrinement, and steroid use certainly is one of those things. All this applies only for the BBWAA vote. Maris, McGwire and Bonds have the Veterans Committee to rely on possibly in the future, though in the VC vote Maris has come up empty several times already.
But why are some steroid users in the HoF while McGwire and Bonds are out? Well *that* discussion is better suited for another day...
