Barry Bonds once admitted to a Federal Jury that he used PED’s. As MLB’s ALL-Time HR King with 762 Round-Trippers, will the BBWAA ever consider looking past this and elect him into Cooperstown?  He only received 36.8 % of the votes last year – and will be in his 4th year of balloting this season.  The 7 time MVP, the 13 time ALL – Star, 12 time Silver Slugger, and 8 time Gold Glove Winner had a career 3 slash of .298/.444/.607 – and is also the ALL – Time Leader in Walks with 2558 – and is in the top 5 for several other categories lifetime.

Prof. Wes Reber Porter and Dan Dressman (Special Guest Writers): Follow @WRPspdADVOCACY and Follow @DannyDressman

When the 2016 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot is  announced tomorrow, the heated discussion will begin about which controversial candidates, if any at all, should have been inducted into Cooperstown (HOF). 

While isolated athletes have come up in previous years, this year represents the fourth year tension between the modern era of baseball – the “steroid era” – and traditional standards for admission into the Hall. With no one that has been connected to PEDs still having been inducted in

The 500+ baseball writers are, and should be, entrusted to weigh cheating and use of PEDs against the HOF’s criteria of “character,” “sportsmanship” and “upholding the integrity of the game” (the integrity standards). 

These writers each will struggle, however, with a preliminary question that falls outside of their expertise:under which circumstances may a HOF voter consider, at all, a candidate’s connection to cheating and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)?    Read the rest of this entry →

Barry Bonds once admitted to a Federal Jury that he used PED’s. As MLB’s ALL-Time HR King with 762 Round-Trippers, will the BBWAA ever consider looking past this and elect him into Cooperstown? —Photo by sportsagent.com.

Prof. Wes Reber Porter and Dan Dressman (Special Guest Writers): Follow @WRPspdADVOCACY and Follow @DannyDressman

When the 2014 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot is released in November, the heated discussion will begin about which controversial candidates, if any at all, would be inducted into Cooperstown (HOF). 

While isolated athletes have come up in previous years, this year represents a first real tension between the modern era of baseball – the “steroid era” – and traditional standards for admission into the Hall. 

The 575 baseball writers are, and should be, entrusted to weigh cheating and use of PEDs against the HOF’s criteria of “character,” “sportsmanship” and “upholding the integrity of the game” (the integrity standards). 

These writers each will struggle, however, with a preliminary question that falls outside of their expertise:under which circumstances may a HOF voter consider, at all, a candidate’s connection to cheating and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)?    Read the rest of this entry →