Maris for HOF?

[tp49]

If Orlando Cepeda is in the Hall of Fame then Roger Maris damn well should be.

[OMMF]

Here's the thing...

Steroids weren't against the rules of the game.

IMO anything that is illegal is automatically against the rules of the game.

It'd be nice to think that. Sadly, US law doesn't seem to apply in sports.

[gashouser27]

MVP's are nice, but they reward great seasons, and not necessarily great careers.  As someone said earlier, Dale Murphy had back-to-back MVP seasons, but he fell off the ballot.  As big a Braves fan I am, and I would love to see Murphy get inducted, I don't think he did enough to get in.  Perhaps if he had played on a better team and have the same stats, he might get more recognition.  Not to mention he's probably one of the most classy guys ever to have played.

Hitting 61 HR's is nice and all, but it simply can't be reason enough to vote Maris in.  Especially considering that he hit well under .300, had under 300 career HR's (which would be 21.4 HR's per season, excluding 1961), and played just one year over the minimum amount required to get in the Hall.

Here's something to ponder: Since a lot of people are viewing baseball as a league of juiced-up players, could it be said that Maris used steroids in 1961?  I mean, he did have one breakout year, and his stats look so funny, when compared season to season.....

I agree that Murphy deserves some consideration. I am surprised he isn't talked about more.

He is another example of how numbers aren't the only measure of greatness. He won two MVP awards he played on great teams.

Having said that pondering that Maris was on steroids is kind of silly. Check the history. If he was doing anything he would have been hung in Times Square

Let's have witch hunt. Maybe Cobb was juiced too. Maybe Babe.

Maybe they all had other vices but steroids is a recent phenom in sports. It happened in football, it happened in baseball

[Jigga]

Two points:

First, it is called the Hall of Fame not the Hall of Very Good. Don?t give me MVP awards, Juan Gonzalez has 2, Frank Thomas has 2, and Dale Murphy has 2 back-to-back. All very good-to-great players, just not Hall worthy. And don?t give me, if so-and-so is in, then you have to put in this guy. Just because a particular player is better than the worst player currently in the Hall, it does not mean he belongs.

Second, why is it okay to assume that all of today's players are artificially enhanced, but it is sacrilege to even bring up the question of whether players of the past under similar circumstances were completely clean? We do not know what anyone did or what anyone does now.

[BBTV]

I'm torn on this one. He clearly does not have the lifetime numbers to make it in the Hall. However, you just cannot tell the "story of baseball" without including a chapter on Roger Maris. That feat / season, while only one record, was as significant as any, and I think that he probably belongs in.

[Gamingboy]

I also say that the Baseball Hall of Fame should stop being a "National" baseball Hall of Fame and go international. Let in Sadaharu Oh and other international players!

[tp49]

And don?t give me, if so-and-so is in, then you have to put in this guy. Just because a particular player is better than the worst player currently in the Hall, it does not mean he belongs.

You certainly can make that argument if the players compared played in the same era and are comparable.