Major League Baseball (MLB) has been the center of attention recently, with MLB great Gary Sheffield breaking the silence on an issue that has been mounting tension for years.
After his latest miss on the Baseball Hall of Fame list, Sheffield explicitly criticized the voting process as a “flawed system.”
MLB great Gary Sheffield calls out Hall of Fame voting process https://t.co/omxhgsjl59 pic.twitter.com/gAQ8b2dUug
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 31, 2024
Sheffield spoke out publicly about the voting process during his recent appearance on Audacy’s The Bret Boone Podcast.
He was selected on 63.9% of the Hall of Fame ballots this year alone, falling short of the 75% benchmark for induction into the Hall of Fame.
The allotment of votes came in his 10th and final year on the ballot, essentially placing his future chances in the hands of the Veterans Committee.
“I was beyond surprised. I was real hopeful this year,” Sheffield said on the podcast.
Sheffield’s critique has been echoing inside the MLB community, especially considering his 22-year career in MLB, dotted with impressive numbers.
He made nine All-Star appearances, contributed considerably 509 home runs, and ended his career with a strong .907 OPS.
However, like some other stars from the so-called “steroid era,” Sheffield’s reputation suffered in the eyes of some voters.
Sheffield ensures it was unfair that his name got associated with a U.S. Senate investigation into the steroid scandal.
He further adds that despite his name appearing in the report, no one from the investigating body attempted to speak with him.
Sheffield voiced out his displeasure towards the voting process, emphasizing that “It’s a flawed system based on guys not watching you on a day-to-day basis.” Because if they did there’s no way they could look at you with a straight face and say this guy’s better than this guy and his numbers mean more than his numbers,” he said. “Just from that standpoint alone, it’s biased and a lot of it is politics and a lot of other things when you look at it.
“For me, there’s no one way that is going to fix this problem but I can tell you that reporters are human beings, and the fact that they can tell you that they’re not biased, I don’t believe that, whoever believes that is believing a fool because I just know for a fact that they are biased and they do what they want to do and how they want to do it.”
While this may sound like just another player dissatisfied with the voting process, Sheffield has some support.
MLB insider Bob Nightengale from USA Today backed Sheffield’s case in a recent commentary titled “Gary Sheffield deserves to be in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.”
“He was trying to share my story to each and every reporter to vindicate me but it just didn’t translate,” Sheffield said.
With Sheffield’s eligibility for the annual ballot concluded, his fate now lies with the Veterans Committee.
MLB fans, players, and Sheffield himself wait with for the Committee’s verdict.
“The fact is that those guys are there for a reason and they wouldn’t have a committee if they were doing it right every time,” Sheffield said. “So these guys are there to make a wrong a right.
“I just want this for my fans. I have a lot of fans. I get people writing me to this day and I respond back to it, each and every one of them, and I tell them just hold on, we’re going to get there, and when we do I’ll acknowledge them.”
