October 2, 2012; St. Louis, MO. USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Scott Rolen (27) fields a ground ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. The Reds won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Scott Rolen is apparently still sitting on the fence as what he wants to do with his baseball career. Does he want to come back to the Reds, who will welcome him with open arms? Would he like to entertain whatever offer the Los Angeles Dodgers have for his services? He has said openly that if he plays he wants to stay in Cincinnati.

In my view Rolen is a borderline Hall of Famer. That is as of right now, not another sub-par year to spare. I have mentioned here on this site that I hate it when somebody says that a player is a “future Hall of Famer.” Yet, here I am asking you if Rolen will someday be enshrined with the baseball legends of days gone by.

He has just logged his 17th year in the annals and provided he quits right now I think he has a shot. But if he takes poet Dylan Thomas’ advice and “Do not go gently into the night,” I am afraid his plaque will not be made.

I must admit, even though I am a self-proclaimed baseball purist, it is titillating to engage in conversation about marginal players.

As a purist (forget that I am a homer), I would give you a quick two-thumbs down on Rolen. He has nowhere near 3,000 hits. He isn’t close to 500 HR and he doesn’t even have 1,300 RBI. He currently possesses a lifetime BA of .281 with 316 HR and 1,287 RBI.

He hasn’t won any offensive titles or crowns, he never was an MVP and never led the league in any category. He was, however, the National League Rookie of the Year in 1997 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He beat out Livan Hernandez, Andruw Jones and Vladimir Guerrero to score that hardware.

He was also the winner of the Silver Slugger award in 2002 and was named to six All-Star rosters from three different teams. Not enough to get in the Museum without a ticket, right?

Not so fast there, Mr. Baseball Writer of America.

Should not we take a look at his defense? I mean, were it not for his outstanding glove, Ozzie Smith doesn’t belong there much more than I. Yet, there he is and there he shall be.

Rolen does have eight Gold Glove awards, winning the last one in 2010 with the Reds. He trails only Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt in the number of years receiving that prestigious award. Robby had 16 and Schmidt had 10 and both are firmly entrenched in the Hall of Fame and baseball lore as well.

I am not an avid fan of sabrmetrics, but I will throw one at you for good measure. Rolen ranks fifth all time in total zone runs for third basemen with 150.

Let us recap what we now have. His offense is probably lacking so he can’t go in on that alone. His defense is superb and as good as it gets at the hot corner.

So, offense no and defense yes, yes?

Rolen appeared in two World Series while with the Cardinals. They were swept in 2004 by the Boston Red Sox and won in 2006 against the Detroit Tigers. Postseason is a team effort, but that notwithstanding, he has a ring on his hand.

Let us now scroll through the Hall of Fame roster and see who got there from the hot corner. Let’s just filter out pitchers and only use position players.

Out of 158 players, third basemen are the loneliest lot of all. There are only 14, or 8.8 percent Hall of Fame third basemen. Three of those gentlemen are from the Negro League and data is not available nor dependable. Even catchers, who can get in with .253 averages, have more with 16.

The last third baseman to be voted in (Negro League players notwithstanding) was Wade Boggs in 2005.

I designed a table for you to peruse but it was too large for this article. So here is Rolen’s career in a capsule:

Let me explain it the best way I can. If you throw Rolen in amongst the Hall of Fame brethren at the hot corner he stands his ground quite well sir.

With him in and the Negro League guys out you have a melting pot of 12 players. In BA and OBP Rolen is 9th out of 12. He comes in 3rd in SLG, 5th in OPS+, 4th in HR, 6th in RBI and 8th in HITS.

To summarize he is above the average mark in HR, RBI, SLG and OPS+. He looks very good all of a sudden.

The timing is right, wouldn’t you think?

You vote your way and I will vote mine. I must give him a big thumbs UP!

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September 07, 2012; Sugar Land, TX, USA; Clemens reacts after getting the final out in the third inning against the Long Island Ducks at Constellation Field. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

I’m not a contrarian. I don’t just say things for the sake of being different and controversial. That’s a tired method, and with millions of bloggers in the world, you can easily find one of those. The Hall of Fame, to me, means you as a player had the power to change the game. You had the power to make any fan in the ballpark find their seat or get to the nearest monitor. You made any channel surfer stop and watch your at-bat, or watch you pitch. Is anyone going to make the argument that Clemens and Bonds didn’t do this?

No. But you may counter with the obvious steroids plug. And I couldn’t care less. You say it’s cheating, I say it was normal. So many more players were taking them, yet so few are actually on a HoF ballet. If steroids can really give someone the power to become infinitely better, then you’d think we’d have seen many more guys than Barry Bonds knocking 73 home runs in a year. In an era defined by steroids, you’d think you’d witness more seven-time Cy Young winners than Roger Clemens.

Why did steroids turn these guys into super humans and not the hundreds of others? Is there anything to be said of actual raw talent?

The Hall of Fame is a glorified Old Boys Club. It’s voted on by baseball fans, like you and me, only, these fans get paid for their opinions.  There’s hardly anything objective about the process. For example, nine writers didn’t vote for Babe Ruth in 1936. Nine writers chose not to vote for Hank Aaron in 1966.  How could any normal spectator of this game not vote for either of those two?

The player with the most hits ever in the history of the sport has to buy a ticket to get into Cooperstown. Pete Rose isn’t acknowledged as one of baseball’s legendary icons for something completely unrelated to his play.

Does the Hall of Fame really tell the story of the greatest to play this game? Maybe. A slightly skewed one, told by hundreds of writers, all with different, subjective opinions, none of which matter any more than the next guy’s.  Almost like a game of telephone, only, with a result that can immortalize someone.

I was stoked when Larkin got into the Hall, but that’s only because he was my all-time favorite player. Guess I’m just lucky that others writers liked him too.  But what about your favorite player? Is it reasonable to suggest he’s not a Hall of Famer because not enough fans, er, writers agree?

Child, please.

The Hall of Fame process makes even the BCS look structured.

Cincinnati Reds hall of famer Barry Larkin during his number retirement ceremonies prior to the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park. Photo Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Performance enhancing drugs have changed the game of baseball.  We will never know how players from the steroids era compare with any other era in the game.  To be honest we could never compare era vs era long before PEDs got in the way though.  From the Dead Ball era to the breaking of the color barrier to the lowering of the mound, the game of baseball has constantly evolved.  Would Babe Ruth have been as effective against Satchel Paige or Tom Seaver?  We can only speculate.  Is the main effect these drugs have had is the ability for players to recover from injury or just the daily grind and perform?

The ballot facing the Baseball Writers Association of America members this year is going to be a challenge.  23 new names join the 13 holdovers on the ballot and writers will have to make judgement calls to decide what criteria to follow and who has earned a place.

It is unsurprising that any current member of the Hall of Fame is offended at the idea of allowing these players in.  When you are a member you don’t want to dilute the membership roles by adding anyone.  Numbers that where hallowed when I was a boy – 3000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 wins – seem almost commonplace now.  The drugs enhanced the recovery abilities of the players using them to enable them to keep playing day after day so the numbers accumulate.

How many players have reached these plateaus and not entered the hall?

3000 Hits (28 members of the club, all but 4 in the HOF)

• Pete Rose – 4,256 (My thoughts on his HOF credentials can be found here.)
• Derek Jeter – 3,304 (Still active.)
• Craig Biggio – 3,060 (Eligible for the first time in 2013.)
• Rafael Palmeiro – 3,020 (Denies knowing use and passed a polygraph test to that effect, but tested positive.)

500 Home Runs (25 members of the club, 9 not in HOF)

• Barry Bonds – 762 (Eligible for the first time in 2013, denies use but has been frequently linked to PEDs.)
• Alex Rodriguez – 647 (Has admitted use and is still actively playing.)
• Ken Griffey Jr. – 630 (Never tainted by accusations of PED use.  Eligible for HOF election in 2016)
• Jim Thome – 612 (Like Griffey, Thome has never been accused of PED use, eligible for HOF consideration in 2017.)
• Sammy Sosa -609 (Eligible for the first time in 2013, denies use but was linked to PEDs.)
• Mark McGwire -589 (Admitted use and has failed garner more than 23.7% of votes to enter the HOF.)
• Rafael Palmeiro -569 (Denies knowing use and passed a polygraph test to that effect, but tested positive.)
• Manny Ramirez – 555 (Been suspended for violating the drug policy multiple times.)
• Frank Thomas -520 (Never accused of PED use, eligible for HOF consideration in 2014.)
• Gary Sheffield – 509 (Accused in the Mitchell report, but aside from a cream used on stitches no concrete allegations have ever been issued.  He is eligible for HOF consideration in 2014.)

300 Wins (24 members of the club, all but 4 are in the Hall of Fame)

• Greg Maddux – 355 (Eligible for HOF consideration in 2014.)
• Roger Clemens -354 (Eligible for HOF consideration in 2013, significant evidence that he used PEDs though he denies accusations.)
• Tom Glavine – 305 (Eligible for HOF consideration in 2014.)
• Randy Johnson – 303 (Eligible for HOF consideration in 2015.)

If I were voting it would be an agonizing decision.  Barry is correct in implying that they have each tarnished the game with their decisions.  But lest we become too sanctimonious we must recall that the members of the Hall of Fame over the decades have not been saints either.  At the end of the day, I believe I would only vote for Craig Biggio and no other.  But looking at the performance of St. Louis Cardinals hitters over the last couple of years I am inclined to believe that Mark McGuire knows a thing or two about hitting…

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