Posted on 03/13/2006 7:35:24 PM PST by Pharmboy
Legendary pitcher Bob Feller, who has been in baseball's Hall of Fame longer than any other living player, said on Monday controversial superstar Barry Bonds should be kept out of the exclusive club.
Bonds, who owns baseball's single-season home-run record, has been under intense scrutiny since excerpts of a new book last week said he actively used steroids for at least five seasons.
"He's not going to get the numbers when it comes to Cooperstown," Feller, 87, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962, told Reuters.
"Those players who have been convicted of using steroids or are caught using them are not going to get the numbers to be elected to the Hall of Fame when they become eligible for that great honor. And I am with them on that."
Feller, who played from 1936 to 1941 and 1945 to 1956, was known for a blazing fastball. He spoke by telephone from spring training at Winter Haven, Florida, where he still works for the Cleveland Indians, the team with which he spent his playing career.
Bonds, who plays for the San Francisco Giants, has won a record seven Most Valuable Player awards, and at 708 career home runs, is within striking distance of Babe Ruth (714) for second place on the all-time list.
The latest suspicions about his slugging power follow the imprisonment of his personal trainer and head of the BALCO nutritional lab near San Francisco on steroid distribution charges. Bonds has said he never actively used steroids, and he has never failed a drug test.
Baseball has banned all-time base-hit leader Pete Rose from the Hall of Fame for life because be bet on the game.
The approximately 550 eligible voters of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and 82 on the veterans' committee -- including Feller -- are the two groups that can elect members to the Hall of Fame.
ASTERISK IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The allegations surrounding Bonds have divided fans and Hall of Famers, with former San Francisco Giant Willie McCovey backing Bonds, and former Minnesota Twin Harmon Killebrew saying cheaters should not be in the Hall.
Feller, who recorded 266 victories in a career interrupted by World War II, said record books should also indicate which players used steroids. "I think that should be noted, the same as Pete Rose," he said. "An asterisk might be needed."
One of the oldest living Hall of Fame members, Feller said cheating was not unique to recent years.
"There has always been cheating going on in pitching and hitting," he said. "As far as cheating, using a wooden bat and flattening the hitting surface, that has always been going on. ... It is usually discovered in pretty good time."
Feller also lamented the glorification of home runs in the game today. "There used to be a stigma in striking out. If you struck out, that used to be an embarrassment. Not anymore," he said.
"They go up there and swing hard three times, with a lot of intent on hitting the ball out of the ball park, because that's where the money is. There is not much money in hitting singles, is there?"
Absolutely!
George Will wrote an interesting column saying how if Barry Bonds had retired in 1998 (before he apparently started doing steroids) he would have retired with over 400 HR's and 400 stolen bases. And he would be in the Hall Of Fame today.
That's really it isn't it? There's not much ME in hitting singles. That's just good for the team.
ASTERIX.
5.56mm
Of course there's money in hitting singles. It just depends how many. Ask Ichiro.
How sad that the 1919 "Black Sox" not only threw the World Series to gamblers..but were not found with drugs..for baseball could throw them out as well gamblers..
Ty Cobb hit lotsa singles...
So did Pete Rose.
(ducking)
Rose was a great player. It's what he did afterwards that stained his legacy.
No sh**. When? During the 1990's? I'm parroting the article, did you read it?
I think he did his gambling while he was the Red's manager? Is that right?
Great just tell us who gets the asterisks and how far back do you go with it?
I'm going to be easy here...Roger Maris and 1961. Does that do it for you, or do you need to look it up?
5.56mm
Yes, not while he was playing..
They fail to mention that McCovey is his godfather.
Bob is, indeed, a smart Feller!
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