MLB Analyst Gives His Hall Of Fame Verdict For Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens

MLB’s history of steroid use continues to provoke controversy as a discussion related to Hall of Fame candidacy. The juiciest debates of all concern all-time great talents who have been kept out of the Hall due to their evidence-based connection to steroids.

Former Boston Red Sox greats Manny Ramirez and Roger Clemens are two examples of such players who have been kept out of the HOF due to their link to performance-enhancing substances.

Meanwhile, more nuanced discussions on the topic in recent years have pointed out that there are multiple guys already in the Hall who have been linked to steroids, if not officially condemned with evidence.

Where do we draw the line?

ESPN’s astute MLB analyst Paul Hembekides explained where his line is drawn (during a recent podcast), and it makes a lot of sense.

For Hembekides, if you were an MLB player caught using performance enhancement drugs after mandatory testing was implemented in 2004, you don’t deserve Hall of Fame entry. However, by that same token, Hembekides doesn’t believe that players like Clemens who used steroids during the height of usage (and prior to testing) should be banned from the Hall.

“These are complicated decisions that writers and that voters need to make, (and) I’ve kind of made my piece with the fact that if you’ve tested positive, or we have clear reason to believe that you did (use) steroids after the testing was in place, then you’re out for me,” Hembekides said.

“So count me out on Manny (Ramirez) and count me out on A-Rod,” Hembekides continued. “But Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, best we can tell, started using steroids at the peak of the steroid era, and the biggest mistake that they made was being so much greater than their peers.”

Steroids were first banned in MLB in 1991 when commissioner Fay Vincent issued a memo, but there was no testing established. In 2003, MLB and the players’ union agreed to anonymous testing to gauge the prevalence of steroid usage. When more than five percent of these tests came back positive, MLB made a move to implement mandatory testing (with penalties), which began in 2004. This is the line in the sand referred to by Hembekides.

By 2005, the BALCO scandal forced the league to adopt an even stricter policy that involved 50-game suspensions for a first offense, 100-game suspensions for a second, and a lifetime ban for a third. The testing also became year-round and unannounced.

In 2013, MLB started testing for human growth hormone using blood samples.