SN�s Hall of Fame voters wouldn�t support Clemens

[alh1020]

A quick poll of Sporting News� Hall of Fame voters finds that former star pitcher Roger Clemens, when he is eligible to be placed on the ballot in 2012, has zero support.

Not one of SN�s voters, who become eligible to vote on Hall of Fame inductees after 10 years of Baseball Writers Association of America membership, said he would vote for Clemens.

However, Thursday�s news of his being indicted by a federal grand jury didn�t appear to tip the scale against Clemens, whose numbers (354-184 with 4,672 strikeouts over more than 4,900 innings pitched in 24 seasons) would appear to be Hall-worthy.

Their decisions appeared to have already been thought through.

�I do not plan on voting for anyone that I am convinced was a cheater,� Sporting News baseball columnist Stan McNeal said. �I am convinced he used performance-enhancing drugs, and that makes him a cheater.�

� �Hall of Fame� and �cheating� don�t belong in the same sentence,� senior editor Carl Moritz said.

Each of the voters mentioned the concept of being �convinced� Clemens had �cheated� by using performance-enhancers during his career.

Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire, who like Clemens has numbers worthy of consideration for the Hall but also was roundly criticized for not being forthcoming before Congress, hasn�t been named on more than 24 percent of the ballots in his four years of eligibility, despite his 583 career home runs.

To be voted into the Hall of Fame, a player must be named on 75 percent of the ballots. Many voters have voiced � in the votes and their comments � the same hesitancy to put a check mark next to McGwire�s name as Sporting News� voters did in saying why they won�t vote for Clemens.

SN's Hall of Fame voters wouldn't support Clemens - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

[Jose_TheGenius]

that's idiotic. i may be in the minority, but that "era" which i would say the 90's was full of guys who cheated and didn't get caught. people need to stop being ignorant about "the integrity of the game" and realize that the majority of guys used something. you might as well vote anyone who has HOF numbers in because no one knows who did or who didn't. Clemens and Bonds were in the minority of guys who got caught, along with A-Rod, but no one really knows who else got caught. what if someone who was already voted in got caught years later?

baseball's image is ruined, just vote them in