So let me get this straight: Everything that Alex Rodriguez accomplished in his career … winning three MVP awards, earning 14 All-Star selections, clubbing nearly 700 homers, producing almost 2,000 RBIs…all of that remains officially in the book. It’s all part of his official Hall of Fame candidacy biography.
None of it has been wiped out. None of it has been asterisk-ed.
The 2009 World Series that A-Rod helped the Yankees win is considered legitimate — Lord knows enough has been said and written about how that was the last Yankees championship. That hasn’t been erased.
Yet for some reason, despite all of his individual and team accomplishments remaining intact, Alex Rodriguez shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame?
It reminds me of the line in “Jerry Maguire,” when Tom Cruise’s character says, “Did you know that the record for most hits is 4,256 by Pete Rose, who is not in the Hall of Fame?” Actually, Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame. That’s why he’s not in Cooperstown. A-Rod, however, is eligible, officially so as of last week, when the 2022 ballot was announced.
And with all due respect to those who feel differently, including my colleague, Mike Vaccaro, who wrote a great column arguing against Rodriguez, A-Rod will get my vote next month. And for every year he’s on the ballot.
This will be my 10th year voting for the Hall, overlapping with the 10 years that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have appeared on the ballot. I’ve voted for them nine times, and I’ll vote for them again when my ballot arrives.
I don’t agree with the argument, cited by Vaccaro, that Rodriguez’s candidacy is different because, unlike Bonds and Clemens, Rodriguez committed his violations after MLB announced its performance-enhancing drug legislation. The reason is simple: A-Rod already served the penalty for his PED crimes when he was suspended for the 2014 season.
That’s the agreed-upon punishment for his PED usage — keeping him out of the Hall of Fame is not. There’s a mechanism in place to prohibit a PED user from reaching the Hall of Fame: If he gets caught three times, he’s ineligible. Rodriguez wasn’t, so he’s eligible for enshrinement. I don’t agree with imposing your own Cooperstown ban. That’s vigilante punishment.
Also, good grief, Rodriguez’s crime was privately using performance enhancers. It wasn’t as if he was convicted of criminal violence or committed an unforgivable sin. As another of my colleagues, Ken Davidoff, once put it in making the case for George Steinbrenner and other unsavory candidates, “We’re talking about a museum here, not heaven.”
Nobody can say for sure how much, if any, of Rodriguez’s production was a direct result of his PED use. We have no idea. I’m not invalidating everything because he used PEDs.
If all of Rodriguez’s achievements currently stand — and they do — it makes no sense for him to not be in Cooperstown. A-Rod belongs in the Hall of Fame for a simple reason: because he’s a Hall of Famer.