SYRACUSE — A former New York Yankee and a member of the Syracuse Chiefs Wall of Fame would vote for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens for inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
That is, if Ron Guidry had a vote. “I don’t vote,” he said.
Bonds and Clemens are suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs in their playing days and have failed to get inducted into the Hall of Fame in multiple tries, despite stellar playing careers.
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Bonds is Major League Baseball’s (MLB) all-time home-run leader with 762, and Clemens won seven American League (AL) Cy Young awards and was the AL most valuable player in 1986.
Clemens was also implicated in former U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones in MLB, which is also known as the Mitchell Report.
“Look, those guys were so good, they could’ve just walked out there and not done anything and they would’ve still made it,” Guidry said in speaking with reporters at the at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse on Jan. 20. Guidry was the featured guest and speaker at the Syracuse Chiefs’ 57th annual Hot Stove Dinner held that night.
He doesn’t know if they’ll ever get voted in, he added.
When asked if he thought other former players under the same suspicion, such as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro, should be voted in, Guidry replied, “I think they’re all in the same kind of boat.”
“Mostly, all of those guys have accomplished something years before that’s already put their name onto the Hall of Fame ballots, so they could’ve been elected at a certain time without ever taking that stuff,” said Guidry.
Guidry’s appearance in Syracuse came two days after the announcement of the 2017 Hall of Fame class, which included former players Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez.
Bonds earned 53.8 percent of the vote, while Clemens got 54.1 percent, below the 75 percent threshold needed for election, according to Jan. 18 article on si.com, the website for Sports Illustrated.
Hot Stove Dinner
The Syracuse Chiefs Charitable Foundation hosts the annual Hot Stove Dinner. The proceeds from the popular event will benefit the Syracuse Challenger Baseball League, the RBI Baseball League, and the entire District 8 Little League, the Syracuse Chiefs said in a news release.
District 8 Little League includes 25 leagues from Cortland to Oswego and has over 10,000 kids participating in youth baseball, according to the Chiefs.
The Chiefs Charitable Foundation doesn’t plan to release a dollar figure on the amount raised at the Hot Stove Dinner, the minor-league baseball club said in response to a CNYBJ inquiry.
Guidry career
Guidry had a short stint in the minors and pitched in Syracuse for parts of the 1975 and 1976 baseball seasons.
Guidry recorded a 0.68 earned run average (ERA) in 1976 in 22 games. He was elected to the Syracuse Chiefs Baseball Wall of Fame in 2007, the team said.
After his promotion to MLB, Guidry went on to have a 14-year career between 1975 and 1988, all with the New York Yankees.
Guidry, whose nicknames are “Gator” and “Louisiana Lightning,” posted a career record of 170-91 in the majors.
Throughout his career, he was a four-time all-star selection, a two-time World Series champion, and a five-time Gold Glove award winner.
Guidry also won the American League Cy Young Award in 1978 with a record of 25-3 and an ERA of 1.74.