Tomorrow night as the New York Yankees begin a weekend series against their AL East divisional opponents Tampa Bay Rays, it will also be the end of an era for a Yankee player. It was announced on Sunday that Alex Rodriguez will be retiring from the game after being apart of it for 22 years. If Alex Rodriguez does indeed stay retired and does not go to another team next season, he would be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the 2021 Hall of Fame Class. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame’s website, other superstars who will be 1st time HOF eligible when Alex would include Dan Haren, Mark Buehrle, AJ Burnett, Tim Hudson, Torii Hunter, Aramis Ramirez, and Barry Zito.
This topic of whether or not Alex Rodriguez being in the Hall of Fame when his time comes has essentially split the baseball world. You have half of the baseball world who is convinced that he should be thrown out of baseball completely due to him admitting that he used steroids. On the other side, you have people who think that he should be in the Hall of Fame. This is a microcosm of a bigger issue facing the Hall of Fame. Alex Rodriguez is one of many players who are becoming eligible for the Hall of Fame that have some sort of interaction with using steroids. Some of the others include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others. Looking at Alex’s stats over his 22-year career, one could make the case for him being in the Hall of Fame.
During his 22 year career, he has compiled numbers that would put him in the upper levels of baseball. The stats are: 696 Homers (4th All Time), 2,084 RBIs (3rd All Time and 1st among activate players), 117.9 WAR (1st among activate players), and he is in the top ten of many of the offensive categories. In addition to those stats, he is a 14 time All Star, 3 time Player of the Year, 1996 AL Batting title, 4 time AL Hank Aaron Award winner, 2009 Babe Ruth Award, 3 time MVP, 2 time Golden Glove, 10 time Sliver Slugger, and has one World Series Ring with the 2009 New York Yankees.
It should be noted that a good chunk of these stats that were accomplished were due to Alex using steroids. While I don’t see him getting to the Hall of Fame right away, but I figure we will see him in the Hall of Fame at some point. I don’t condone what he did by cheating at the game, he was not the only one who used steroids during that era. My feeling is once the Hall of Fame gets new voters, then you will see players like Alex, Bonds, Clemens, and the other steroid players. What people need to realize that while yes, the steroid era, was not the best of times in baseball you need to realize that it was still an era in baseball.
I ask the reader, Does Alex Rodriguez belong in the Hall of Fame ?Let us know in the comments below.