FanHouse Mlb Hall Of Fame

Has it been 20 years? Wow, that's me. I'm glancing at the last photo in the middle of Roger Kahn's mostly toothless book in collaboration with Pete Rose called "My Story." The date of the photo is August 24, 1989, and as I study it, I remember feeling as if somebody had shoved a resin bag down my throat.

Moments before somebody snapped this photo in Cincinnati, baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti did the unthinkable in New York: He ignored Rose's distinction as the game's all-time hits leader, and he knocked an automatic trip to Cooperstown away from Rose with a lifetime ban from baseball for gambling on the sport.

With only two years of eligibility left on the BBWAA ballot, Dave Parker's chances of getting into the Hall of Fame are looking awfully slim. In this year's balloting, his name only appeared on 15 percent of the writer's ballots, leaving him far shy of the 75 percent needed for induction. Barring a miracle, Parker's best shot to get in is going to be through the Veteran's Committee.

After attending a celebration at PNC Park this weekend to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1979 World Series champions, Parker told AP writer Alan Robinson that he often wonders if his involvement in baseball's drug trials in the '80s is what's keeping him from being inducted. It's a fair question and it's one that I've pondered myself in the past.

According to Bud Selig during an exclusive interview with FanHouse, the last time he met with Pete Rose was "years ago." Then Selig added over the phone from his office in Milwaukee after a sigh, "I am the judge in this case, and judges just don't sit around talking about (these matters). It's sort of a complicated little thing."

So what does that tell you about the commissioner's intention of lifting the lifetime ban on baseball's all-time hits leader any time soon?

It won't happen.

So Bud Selig is reportedly "seriously considering lifting Pete Rose's lifetime suspension from baseball," according to the New York Daily News.

According to the report, some Hall of Famers have been lobbying Selig to reinstate Rose, which would make him eligible for the Hall. And the report claims that Hank Aaron's statement that Rose belongs signals Selig's chage of heart.

He would thus have to be elected by his peers, the 65 living members in the Hall of Fame, not all of whom agree with Aaron, [Joe] Morgan and [Frank] Robinson that Rose has done his time. It's hard to say if he would get the necessary 75 percent for election. "I know there are still guys who feel strongly against him," said one Hall of Famer, "and I don't know if that would change even if Selig clears him."

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- The greatest leadoff hitter/hot dog in baseball history came dressed for the part Sunday. Onto a stage full of blue and gray suits strode Rickey Henderson.

Instead of a large bottle of mustard, he wore a cream-colored coat. That helped explain why so many Hall of Famers sitting behind him wore sunglasses on a cloudy day.

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Rickey Henderson's Hall of Fame speech was one of the most anticipated parts of the 2009 induction ceremony. One fan, Pete Wahlstrom, and his nephew even traveled 300 miles from Massachusetts to Cooperstown, excited to hear speeches from Henderson and Jim Rice, both of whom spent time in Boston.

"I want to hear Henderson's speech," Wahlstrom said while waiting out an afternoon shower in the Hall of Fame. "I hope he doesn't let us down."

Rickey did not disappoint.

You can check out video of Henderson's speech below.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - Jim Rice's icy glare melted into a wide smile. Brash, flamboyant Rickey Henderson was humbled by it all.

The former left fielders were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday along with the late Joe Gordon, and Henderson, baseball's all-time leading base stealer, was briefly overcome before evoking some hearty laughs.

"My journey as a player is complete," Henderson said. "I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment I am very humbled."

On Sunday, Rickey Henderson will be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're happily anticipating the induction speech of one of the most colorful players in the history of baseball, sure. It never seemed, though, that he would ever stay retired long enough for us to drag him into the Hall.

We've caught the thief, but we all know he's good for another thousand stolen bases. Saturday's Dugout is after the jump.

It's a baseball podcast. The math is easy, right? BaseCast. Let's rock.

Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. on Sunday afternoon. In celebration of the festivities two of FanHouse's Hall of Fame voters, Jeff Fletcher and Ed Price, joined me to discuss what made Henderson and Rice great, what goes into the Hall voting process and to share their favorite Rickey stories.

For everything you need to know about this year's Hall of Fame ceremonies, listen in after the jump.

Reggie Jackson is right. So is Jim Rice, along with Rick Telander, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, who joins me as a baseball Hall of Fame voter and as a hardliner who agrees with Jackson and Rice:

No steroids guys in Cooperstown.

No Roger Clemens. No Barry Bonds. No Mark McGwire. No Sammy Sosa. No Rafael Palmeiro. No Alex Rodriguez. Nobody within a syringe of evidence showing they were artificially enhanced during any portion of their playing career.

I don't care that Ty Cobb was a racist (and possibly worse), that Mickey Mantle joined others as prolific drunks, and that Gaylord Perry spit his way into Cooperstown. They're already in the Hall of Fame. I can't do anything about their entries, but I can do something about Clemens, Bonds and the rest.