It is done. David Ortiz, who benefited from the use of performance-enhancing drugs more than any player in baseball history, and has always lied about it, has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
While Alex Rodriguez, who was a better all-around player than anybody on the ballot this time (except for maybe Barry Bonds), who didn't need to take performance-enhancing drugs, but did, and came clean about it, and was also in his 1st year of eligibility, has been denied.
A-Rod played 54 of his major league games for the New York Yankees. Big Papi played 81 percent of his major league games for the Boston Red Sox.
If the figures were reversed, and Papi were the Yankee, and A-Rod were the Red Sock, it would be the other was around: A-Rod would be in, and Papi would be out. To borrow a phrase from Joe Namath, I GUARANTEE IT.
The members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, who do the voting for the eligible players -- in this case, those whose last season in the major leagues was between 2007 and 2016 -- knew going in that both A-Rod and Papi had cheated.
They also knew that A-Rod had come clean, and Papi still lies about it.
They also knew that A-Rod was probably thoroughly tested throughout the 2009 season, the one and only time he ever appeared in a World Series.
They also knew that A-Rod was already on a Hall of Fame track before he started taking the stuff, with the 2001 Texas Rangers.
They also knew that, before Papi started taking the stuff, while he was with the Minnesota Twins, he was a very ordinary player, a designated hitter with some pop, who might have ended up with around 300 home runs had he played by the rules.
And they knew that, regardless of level of cheating, Alex Rodriguez was a better baseball player than David Ortiz. In nearly every important stat, A-Rod is ahead of Papi -- and, in the ones where Papi is ahead, it's not by much:
STAT A-ROD PAPI
BA .295 < .286
OBP .380 = .380
SLG .550 > .552
OPS+ 140 > 141
Hits 3,115 < 2,472
2B 548 > 632
3B 31 < 19
HR 696 < 541
RBI 2,086 < 1,768
TB 5813 < 4,765
SB 329 < 17
ASG Berths 14 < 10
Gold Gloves 2 < 0
MVPs 3 < 0
MVP Top 3s 6 < 2
MVP Top 5s 6 < 5
Oh yeah: Known failed PED tests: Papi 1, A-Rod 0.
Of course, Ortiz also has the edge in World Series won: 3-1. Because of the massive amount of cheating on the Red Sox. Ortiz was the biggest one, but he wasn't the only one.
The BBWAA members who voted knew all of this. And still, they voted for David Ortiz, and not for Alex Rodriguez.
So here's my question: Were they willingly complicit in a scheme to help the Red Sox and hurt the Yankees, or were they pressured to vote that way?
Look: One of the main arguments against Pete Rose getting reinstated to baseball, and thus becoming eligible for the Hall of Fame, is that, on top of his initial offense, he lied about it for 15 years after getting caught.
A-Rod got caught twice. After trying to avoid it, he admitted it, fairly quickly, both times.
Papi failed that test 19 years ago. He lied about it. He still lies about it. He's been lying about what he did longer than Rose lied about what he did.
But Papi is in, and A-Rod is out.
David Ortiz got shot in his native Dominican Republic, because he not only cheated on his wife, but he did that with a drug dealer's girlfriend. He almost died.
I mean, if character is part of your decision on whether to vote for a guy, David Ortiz is one guy we can compare Alex Rodriguez to, and say, "A-Rod is a man of better character." And it's not even close.
If it were found out tomorrow that David Ortiz did what O.J. Simpson did, instead of a chase down the Mass Pike, the Boston Police would probably give him an escort to Logan International Airport, and Bud Selig and Rob Manfred would have a private jet waiting for him to fly him to his homeland, so he could get away with it.
David Ortiz has always gotten away with it. Except that one time when he got shot.
And he is in the Hall of Fame, and Alex Rodriguez is out.
How is this fair? Somebody explain this to me.