Earlier this month the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY announced the former players to be inducted in 2007 (you need to be retired for five years to be eligible). The two players to receive baseball's ultimate honor -- former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken and former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn -- both figured to make it (players need to get 75 percent of all votes cast to be elected) in their first year of eligibility.
It was another player eligible for the first time, though, former Oakland and St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire, who received much of the attention. McGwire, fifth on baseball's all-time home run list with 583, is suspected by many of using performance-enhancing drugs to bulk him up and make him stronger. He was chosen on only 25 percent of the ballots, compiled by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, far short of the 75 percent he needed.
There is something fitting in all this. In a year when Barry Bonds, another suspected user of performance-enhancing drugs, closes in on Hank Aaron's career home run mark, honoring a tainted McGwire in Cooperstown this summer would have sent the wrong message. Instead, the baseball writers said by their vote that they had serious questions about whether McGwire is derserving.
They had no such questions about Ripken and Gwynn. In an era when most players move from city to city for bigger contracts, Ripken and Gwynn spent their entire careers playing for just one team. They were also both scandal free, and were in fact great role models for kids throughout their careers.
Ripken is best known for playing in an amazing 2,632 consecutive games, spanning 16 seasons. Few players now go even one season without missing a game, but Cal was a true Iron man, never taking a day off despite playing one of the game's most demanding positions -- shortstop -- for much of the streak. His consecutive games streak overshadows the fact that he was a 19-time all-star, and revolutionized the position of shortstop from small players known for their fielding to tall players -- Cal's 6-feet-4 -- who could field well and hit for power, something you see much more today.
Gwynn is considered to be one of the best pure hitters in baseball history. He won 8 National League batting titles and hit .338 over his 20-year career. Gwynn, though, also won five gold gloves for his defense as an outfielder, and he was a 16-time all star.
These players are throwbacks to another, simplier era. At a time when it's hard to tell which players have or haven't used steriods or other performance-enhancing drugs to help their play, this summer the National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes two superstars who are above reproach. Their induction is an event worth watching with your kids.
