New poll affirms Americans don't want steroid users in Hall of Fame
The people agree with Joe Morgan: No steroid users in the Hall of Fame.
That’s according to a new poll from Seton Hall University, which surveyed people across the country late last month about their thoughts on the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Joe Morgan’s letter to voters asking that suspected steroid users be kept out.
The people polled — 729 of them — were definitely on Morgan’s side:
• 62 percent of people surveyed said that “players with a history of performance-enhancing drug use” should not be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Of the rest, 12 percent of people had no opinion and 26 percent said let ’em in.
• 49 percent of people said Bonds and Clemens should not be in the Hall of Fame, while 35 percent of people said yes and 16 percent said they didn’t know or have an opinion.
Those two points seem like similar ideas, but they’re not. Bonds and Clemens never failed PED tests while they were playing, nor were they suspended for drug use. So the 13 percent difference in the two questions could be people who see the nuance between them and someone like Manny Ramirez, who is on the ballot too, has Hall of Fame stats and did fail PED tests.
The numbers for Bonds and Clemens aren’t that far off last year’s actual Hall of Fame vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America, in which Bonds got 53.8 percent of the vote and Clemens got 54.1 percent. To get in, players need 75 percent. This year’s Hall of Fame results will be announced Jan. 24.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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