Baseball Hall of Fame: Split over steroids is costing former Vol Todd Helton a spot

Voters continue to remain split over whether or not steroid users belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Should Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens get in? What about Alex Rodriguez? Well, the worst part about this split that has divided the sports world isn’t what’s happening to those players. It’s what’s happening to players with no link to cheating.

Fred McGriff was a notable example, but it’s now happening to former Tennessee baseball and Tennessee football star Todd Helton. For the third straight year, Helton missed the necessary mark to reach the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.

Make no mistake, it’s because of this split. Numerous players who would be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by everybody can’t because these other stars remain on the ballot, which they wouldn’t be if they got in.

Voters can pick a maximum of only 10 players, and if they go for the suspected steroid users, they’re forced to leave off other guys that they would vote for on another ballot once Bonds and Clemens got in. With a 75 percent threshold required to get in, that forces writers to leave guys off they don’t want to leave off if they believe steroid users should get in.

Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa and Andy Pettite were all also on the ballot. Then there’s Curt Schilling, who is only not in because of how some people personally feel about him. Still, with seven suspected steroid users plus schilling constantly on the ballot, it’s hurting guys like Helton, who walked away with 52 percent of the vote.

Of course, Helton isn’t the first player to be hurt like this. The same could be said about guys like Fred McGriff back in the day. He was on during years Mark McGwire was on, and he also suffered from the stats accumulated during the steroid era.

Although it’s debatable if Helton belongs in, he certainly has the resume to warrant a fair hearing, which he isn’t getting right now. The guy has 369 home runs, over 2,500 hits, five MLB All-Star games, three Gold Gloves at first base, is a four-time Silver Slugger and has a .316 career batting average. He also made a World Series.

Sure, Helton doesn’t have the same credentials that the other guys mentioned do, and he wouldn’t even have the same credentials as Bonds or Clemens before either guy was believed to be juicing. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t deserve his respect as a solid player.

Regardless of how the sportswriters feel about steroid users in the Baseball Hall of Fame, their vehement stances are costing too many other players. It’s time they come to an agreement and work out a compromise. Otherwise, whatever damage one side thinks the other is doing will be doubled by the clean players these tactics are leaving out.