The Cooperstown Controversy

Home to a small population of 1,800, Cooperstown, New York is the birthplace of America’s pastime, baseball. Abner Doubleday invented the sport on a summer day in 1839 just outside of current day downtown Cooperstown. Abner’s love for the sport carried on and baseball eventually became America’s favorite pastime. The National Baseball Hall of Fame was founded nearly 100 years later in 1939 and since then, only 114 people have the honor of calling themselves Hall of Famers and becoming forever enshrined in baseball history.

Every year, a couple players are inducted in the glorious knighting that is baseball’s Hall of Fame. The tradition started with the classics like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Babe Ruth. Since then many amazing players have been inducted until the steroid era took baseball by storm.

Unfortunately, there have been players caught using steroids and they have paid the price. Barry Bonds is arguably the best hitter of all time, setting the all time homerun record of 3,000 hits and finishing his career with a batting average of .298. However, Bonds is still not inducted into the hall of fame because of his use of steroids. There is widespread debate on whether players like Bonds should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Some believe that Bonds is one of the best players of all time, and on paper, he is without a doubt a legend. The harsh reality for Bonds is the fact that his steroid use will never allow for him to become a member of the coveted Hall of Fame.

While steroid use has become less and less frequent in Major League Baseball, current players have been caught doping. Alex Rodriguez comes to mind when thinking of modern players using steroids. A-Rod is now a talk show commentator on all things baseball and helps out on MLB Network.

All of these players, including Rodriguez, will most likely never be inducted into the Hall of Fame due to the fact that these players cheated by taking these banned substances. On the other hand, players like Pete Rose are completely robbed of the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose has the all time hit record at 4,256. This astonishing number should surely secure him a spot in the hall. However, Rose was caught gambling in 1989 and was forever banned from the sport. Shortly after the investigation, Rose was instituted in a gambling addiction program. Since then, baseball fans from all over the world have encouraged the Hall of Fame to induct Rose due to the fact that he never used any substance to obtain those hits. It is an outrage and Pete Rose’s legacy should be enshrined forever.

Although there is much controversy in the Hall of Fame, there are plenty of players eligible and fairly inducted. This year, Mariano Rivera became the first player to ever obtain a unanimous selection from the Baseball Writers of America. This is a massive accomplishment for Rivera, making him the best pitcher to ever play the game. Despite, controversy on the select few who become inducted, Baseball’s Hall of Fame is the most exclusive in all of sports and only the men amongst boys are able to go to Cooperstown and have their legacy exhibited in baseball for eternity.