Quick and Dirty Guide to the Hall of Fame Ballot

Mike Piazza: The best all-around hitter among catchers has been weirdly attractive to the steroids scolds, who have gone so far as measuring his back hair in pursuit of convicting evidence. (If back hair were evidence of having super-powers the nation’s 45-year-old men would have long since banded together to form the Justice League of Flatulence.) In his book, Piazza ‘fessed to using Androstenedione and Ephedra, supplements then legal in baseball, but denied using anything else. Just for argument’s sake, let’s say that Piazza did use. Heck, let’s say that he bolted the whole medicine cabinet from aspirin to Zantac. Given that so many players have failed tests, the guys we know used, apparently reaped no benefit whatsoever, what percentage of Piazza’s accomplishments would you like to credit to the drugs? Be fair now, remembering all those faceless minor leaguers who have been suspended, and even those world-class runners who have been caught after making times tenths of a second better than the field. We cannot quantify what these things do for a ballplayer. That doesn’t stop people from trying, or even speaking authoritatively on the subject, but don’t you believe them.

A failed attempt to cheat is in no way morally superior to not cheating, but I do think we can stop pretending that the numbers are illegitimate, and at that point some of the high dudgeon can be fanned away on the basis that the so-called steroids era was about an ethical lapse rather than a major crime.

Greg Maddux: In 1992, Tom Seaver was elected with 98.8 percent of the ballots cast. If there is any justice in the world, Maddux will hit 100 percent. He’s on the short list for the greatest pitcher of all time, although like fellow NL right hander Pete Alexander, a good comp inasmuch as a pitcher who predated him by most of a century can be, he did it as much with guile and command as raw stuff -- not that it matters -- it’s results alone that count.

Fred McGriff: Very solid for a very long time without anyone ever thinking he was the best player in his league. Given his 493 home runs, he’s probably the player most injured by the 1994-1995 labor foolishness, and it seems silly to penalize him on that basis -- had the games been played, he would have had one of those aforementioned big round numbers that the voters can substitute for critical thinking. It’s fascinating that the weak logic of the steroids obsessives doesn’t bring him more support. After all, he could almost be billed as the Last Clean Home Run Hitter. You’d think that label would be attractive to the simple-minded.