H.O.F. moralists in a quandary over Clemens

The Baseball Hall of Fames moralist parade just got handed a conundrum. Roger Clemens walked.Six times. Acquitted of everything connected with Brian McNamee with the accuracy of a circus knife-thrower. Well, a really good circus knife-thrower. Mediocre knife-throwers tend not to be hired by most quality circuses any more.But we digress. After all, this is not Carny News Quarterly.Clemens was cleared by a jury, and presumably is back on the Hall of Fame fast track. That is, if you think the moralists were waiting for a verdict to decide on his worth, or for that matter, anyone elses.RELATED: Roger Clemens acquitted of all charges
They werent. And they still arent. The Clemens acquittal actually confuses them more, because they wanted to make up their minds about induction without troublesome issues like drug evidence.After all, Barry Bonds was convicted of perjury rather than drug use, and he is considered a long shot to be inducted next year when his name first appears on the ballot.Then again, this has always been the prime issue with those who want to include and exclude players based on their affinity for illegal performance enhancers. They never seemed all that keen on prosecuting offenders, but they were fine with keeping them out of the Hall of Fame just because, well, just because.Well, heres a flash. Baseball isnt the law, and the Hall of Fame isnt church. Sports has always been a lousy way to determine someones fitness for sainthood, even if its a low-level sainthood like a hall of fame. The number of brigands, rounders, weasels, short-armers and out-and-out swine we have lionized in all sports would fill most of the flyover states, and we lionize them for one reason only.Because they helped our favorite teams win games and entertain us. And whatever they have do or use, and whomever they have to use or do it to for those moments is considered okay by us.Its what some folks might call a character flaw. Its what others call the cost of doing business. And its what sports fans call good old-fashioned fun.The point? Halls of fame are not the place we have designated to salute law-abiding upstanding gentlemen and ladies. Those who are law-abiding and upstanding do that on their own, but it isnt why we saluted them. If we did, all the folks who cheated and swindled and assaulted and kept their fellow citizens from playing the games we all put such stock in wouldnt be in any hall at all.But theyre all there, because they performed for us.So now comes Clemens. Does any voter who wanted to keep him out of the Hall of Fame because he or she believes he must surely have used PEDs now change his or her mind because a jury dismissed the best available proof? And if not, has the Hall of Fame standard been lowered to Because I dont like the guy, okay?And if thats the standard, shouldnt the Hall of Fame be converted to a JiffyLube?Thats always been the problem with the Hall of Fame moralists. They stand on too many wobbly planks, cortorted into too many logically indefensible positions, forced to bend facts and ignore history and inflate their ballots into lofty certifications of human value that the halls themselves have never held their members to, ever.In other words, if Clemens doesnt get 95 percent of the votes this winter, as he should given his resume, it means a lot of voters have decided to change the standard to BIDLTG, O. Because I dont like the guy, okay? And the same logic can be applied to Bonds because his conviction is not a drug conviction at all.We can extend this out to say the real truththat the Hall of Fame is not a measuring stick of anything at all except playing skillbut that brilliantly constructed and logically unassailable argument has not yet convinced enough people.RELATED: Roger Clemens career stats
The slack-jawed dimwits.Which is why the Clemens verdict places the Hall of Fame moralists in an even greater quandary than before. And frankly, theyd better be ready to enjoy a steady diet of quandariesafter all, theyve asked for them.Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com