The Ty Cobb Rule should say something to the effect that: “A player who reaches the minimum standard of integrity, sportsmanship and character as established by Ty Cobb, baseball’s first Hall of Famer, should not be denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame based strictly on those categories.”
The 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame election will be a “crucible on steroids” for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the two biggest names linked to performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), will be on the ballot for the first time. In addition, Sammy Sosa will be making his debut on the ballot. Also standing for election as carryovers are Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. All five have superb Hall of Fame credentials, except for the big elephant in the room, the issue of PEDs.
To not allow any alleged or admitted steroid users into the Baseball Hall of Fame (BBHOF) would be debilitating to a museum that already lacks Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time leader in hits, games played and at-bats. Rose is ineligible for the BBHOF because he bet on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Baseball should invoke the “Ty Cobb Rule” to add Rose and the top players who used steroids to the Hall. According to the baseballhall.org website, “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Obviously Rose and the top players who used PEDs are fully qualified in the areas of player’s record, playing ability and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played, and Major League Baseball and the baseball writers have decided they are deficient in the areas of integrity, sportsmanship and character.
Tyrus Raymond Cobb was part of the illustrious first BBHOF class of 1936, a class that included Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Because Cobb received the most votes of that initial class, he is considered the first Hall of Famer, and by extension, the gold standard of Hall of Famers. But let’s examine the “integrity, sportsmanship and character” requirements as they relate to the behavior of Cobb. According to the book “Ty Cobb: His Tumultuous Life and Times,” by Richard Bak, the following incidents occurred:
Cobb assaulted and severely beat up a physically handicapped fan who had been heckling him.
Cobb slapped a black elevator operator for being “uppity,” and “insolent,” and then stabbed a black night watchman who saw what was occurring and tried to intervene.
On the base paths, Cobb intentionally spiked many players, including Hall of Fame third baseman Frank “Home Run” Baker in an attack that prompted Baker’s manager, the legendary Connie Mack, to label Cobb the dirtiest player he had ever seen.
Dissatisfied with a black groundskeeper who approached him and tried to shake his hand, Cobb slapped the groundskeeper and then choked the man’s wife when she came to her husband’s defense.
Roberto Alomar was castigated for spitting on an umpire. Well, that was nothing compared to Cobb, who once had a fistfight with future Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans under the grandstands. Cobb also regularly engaged in profanity-laced arguments with umpires.
Cobb had numerous fights with teammates and opponents, both on and off the field.
In trying to make the Major Leagues, Cobb fraudulently promoted himself by authoring many postcards and letters under various aliases and sending these cards and letters to famous baseball writer Grantland Rice. In these letters Cobb exaggerated his talents and accomplishments.
The 1920s saw a revival of the Ku Klux Klan, and it was suspected Cobb was a member, at least for a brief period of time.
Given this litany of offenses and the horrible example set by its first Hall of Famer, can baseball really think Pete Rose and the steroid users fall short of that in the areas of character, integrity and sportsmanship? In Cobb’s defense he did experience a horrible tragedy in his life that may have affected his behavior. The tragic incident was Cobb’s mother shooting to death his father as his father spied on his mother because he suspected her of infidelity. But still his “being possessed by demons” can’t be relied upon any more than the “twinkie” excuse can be used in a court of law as justification for wrongdoing.
As the 2013 ballot looms larger as a day of reckoning, the BBWAA should ask itself why it has so haughtily rejected anyone suspected of having even a hint of steroid use, when baseball’s first Hall of Famer set such a low bar in the areas of integrity, sportsmanship and character. Unlike basketball and American football, there was no drug testing in baseball until 2003, and baseball seemed to turn a blind eye toward the issue before that. Can anyone really blame players for trying to gain an edge? There are probably players in the Hall right now who slipped under the radar, used steroids and got away with it.
Pete Rose bet on baseball as a manager, but there is no suggestion he bet on baseball as a player. His playing career is worthy of Hall of Fame induction. His offense does not fall below the standard set by Cobb, who incidentally also was accused of possibly throwing games while serving as player-manager. It would be fine if baseball put wording on Rose’s plaque that he bet on baseball, just as long as there is a plaque.
Figure it out, baseball. The Hall of Fame is incomplete and the museum is diminished if record holders like Rose, Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and other candidates with overwhelming credentials are denied entry. And the shame of it all is that these players certainly did no worse in the areas of integrity, character and sportsmanship than did Ty Cobb, baseball’s first Hall of Famer.
Sources:
“Ty Cobb: His Tumultuous Life and Times,” Richard Bak, Taylor Publishing Company, 1994
http://baseballhall.org
“National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Yearbook, 2006 Yearbook”
Baseball-reference.com
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/17180628/baseball-hall-to-begin-drug-education-program
