Sammy Sosa Hall of Fame Material?
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by Thedanf
Personally, I'm of the belief that the Hall has too many inhabitants and that the requirements for admission are too lax. However, judging by the current policies, we well er... judge Slammin' Sammy's credentials.
Sosa's career statistics are quite something. From a slugging standpoint, he would seem to be a shoe-in. With 604 (and counting) homeruns and a .534 slugging percentage, conventional wisdom would say that he has paved a path to the Cooperstown. Unfortunately, he seems to have a few drawbacks.
Firstly, if you take away the slugging, there isn't much left. The Adam Dunn of the 90's, if you will. In his 17 years in the bigs, he's only produced a mediocre average of .273, and OBP of .344 (which of course includes all those intentional walks).
His second downfall is the simple fact that he's never had the complete limelight. His hay-day was coincidentally also that of Mark McGwire, who eclipsed much of Sammy's work. Shortly after McGwire's retirement, Barry Bonds shattered Sosa's dreams of the homerun throne by by way of steroids.
Steroids, however opens an entirely new can of worms. Lemme give you a quick before and after. You draw your own conclusions.
Obviously, something changed. I sincerely feel that steroid use should be a major factor when considering a player for the Hall of Fame. Hopefully the voters will agree with me. Will Sammy end up in Cooperstown? Most likely. But should he?
Opinions are like assholes. Everyone's got one.
