Following the sudden and tragic death of New York Yankees principal owner and managing partner George Steinbrenner, reaction poured in from all walks of life about the impact he had on the most valuable brand in baseball and the game itself.
And as baseball legends congregate in Cooperstown, New York for Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, fond memories of ‘The Boss’ evoked strong opinions about his potential entry into the national pastime’s hallowed halls.
According to NYDailyNews.com, for Steinbrenner to get into the Hall of Fame, he would have to be put on the ballot that is judged by the Hall's own Board of Directors. There were two previous opportunities for Steinbrenner to be placed on that ballot, but he didn’t make it either time. However, it is certain that the next opportunity for Steinbrenner to be placed on the ballot will receive overwhelming support from Hall of Fame members.
"He changed the whole complexion of the game with free agency and the way he opened up his wallet," former New York Mets catcher Gary Carter said. "Other owners were reluctant to see free agency get as big as it did, but George was not that way. If I were given the chance to vote for him, I would."
Despite playing for a hated rival during Steinbrenner’s early years as the Yankees owner, former Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk was equally effusive in his praise for ‘The Boss’.
"He deserves to be here," Fisk said. "There aren't many owners, if any, who've had the impact that George has had on the game of baseball. Whatever way you view it, good or bad, he was very influential and such a powerful guy in the game."
But what of Steinbrenner’s indiscretions which earned him two suspensions from Major League Baseball? Will they conveniently be swept under the rug for Steinbrenner’s posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame?
In 1974, Steinbrenner pleaded guilty to making illegal contributions to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign and to a felony charge of obstruction of justice. He was personally fined $15,000 and his company was assessed an additional fine of $20,000. On November 27, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Steinbrenner for two years, but later reduced it to fifteen months.
Sixteen years later, on July 30, 1990, Steinbrenner received a lifetime ban from baseball from Commissioner Fay Vincent after he paid a gambler named Howie Spira $40,000 to dig up "dirt" on Dave Winfield, who had sued the Yankees for failing to pay Winfield’s foundation a sum of $300,000, a guaranteed stipulation in his contract. However, Steinbrenner was reinstated in 1993.
So if Steinbrenner is inducted into Cooperstown then it can be safely assumed that his ‘sins’ were less egregious than Pete Rose gambling on baseball and the numerous players who have taken or been suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s) in recent years.
Rose, the MLB’s all-time hits leader and a 17-time All-Star, has been on baseball’s permanently ineligible list since 1989; which has prevented the Cincinnati Reds from formally retiring his #14 jersey and, more significantly, has precluded his induction into the Hall of Fame in spite of two previous applications for reinstatement that were never acted upon by Fay Vincent in 1992 and Bud Selig in 1997.
The ban came as the direct result of an investigation launched by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti that provided evidence Rose had placed bets on baseball games; although “no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Reds” while manager of the team from 1984-1989.
Concurrently, the case of active and former players connected to PED’s must also be taken into consideration. Players like former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who although hitting 583 home runs and making 12 All-Star appearances, has not been elected to the Hall of Fame since his first year of eligibility in 2007.
Would it be truly fair and just to continue to exclude Mark McGwire and Pete Rose from the Hall of Fame while inducting a baseball owner, deceased or not, whose actions resulted in a two-year suspension and a lifetime ban from the game?
It is incumbent on the Baseball Writers Association of America and the Hall of Fame Board of Directors to decide one way or the other because a Steinbrenner induction would only compound the hypocrisy of his two reinstatements and cast a shadow over the influence the Yankees brand has on baseball politics.
Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation on the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.
Induction of George Steinbrenner into Hall of Fame would be act of hypocrisy
