Red Sox: Curt Schilling worthy of Hall of Fame induction

Hypocrisy

The word of the day is “hypocrisy.” It would be fascinating for one single member of the voting electorate to explain to me, straight faced, how, Curt Schilling, a man who has given so much to so many, is in violation of the character clause that may keep him out of Cooperstown, yet Bud Selig, a man synonymous with enabling and perpetuating the “Steroid Era,” is not.

The inclusion of Selig in the baseball Hall of Fame, a man who single-handedly stood by and watched as previously hallowed and indelibly etched numbers such as 61 and 755 were forever rendered meaningless, raises many questions regarding the competency of the voting electorate.

Selig, as a result of greed, ignorance, stupidity, or some combination of all three, has enabled the once hallowed records of baseball, to which there exist no equivalent in any other sports, to be permanently desecrated in a conflagration of flammable synthetic hormones.

In the aforementioned Crasnick article, it is further indicated that, “Dejan Kovacevic, a Pittsburgh-based voter and writer, subtracted Schilling this year because he thought the pitcher’s behavior, ‘especially in recent years, represents the antithesis of the character clause that the Hall and BBWAA continue to instruct voters to honor.’”

Dejan, if Schilling, a man merely exercising his first amendment rights to free speech is in violation of the character clause, then one can only imagine how you feel about the inexorable and egregious violations of said character clause by those individuals who have committed repeated federal crimes, i.e., all PED abusers. If one is to follow the character clause for one player, then it needs to be followed for all players.

Although often prosecuted at the state level, Dejan, and the remainder of the electorate, should be aware that The Department of Justice states the following on its website, “The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 placed anabolic steroids into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) as of February 27, 1991. Under this legislation, anabolic steroids are defined as any drug or hormonal substance chemically and pharmacologically related to testosterone (other than estrogens, progestins, and corticosteroids) that promotes muscle growth.”

In addition, it is stated, “The possession or sale of anabolic steroids without a valid prescription is illegal. Simple possession of illicitly obtained anabolic steroids carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine if this is an individual’s first drug offense.”

Next: Ortiz not interested in WBC?

In other words, any member of the voting electorate who fails to vote for Schilling, for the sole and explicit reason that he is in violation of the “character” clause, yet casts a vote for any PED abuser, who, as clearly stated above, has violated a clearly delineated Federal Criminal Statute, has redefined the upper bound of hypocrisy.