Former major-leaguer Alex Rodriguez had something to say about former MLB commissioner Bud Selig‘s 2017 induction into the baseball Hall of Fame.
Bud Selig was commissioner during what is now infamously known as the “Steroid Era” of baseball, and Rodriguez argues that inducting Selig and keeping players with suspected or proven performance-enhancing drug (PED) links out sends a message that many consider deeply unfair.
On a recent appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Rodriguez said, “All of this stuff you’re talking about was under Bud Selig‘s watch. And the fact that those two guys are not in, but somehow, Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame, that to me feels like there’s a little bit some hypocrisy around that.”
Selig‘s induction and the PED-era legacy
Selig served as acting commissioner from 1992, then full commissioner from 1998 through the 2015 season.
Under his stewardship, baseball experienced a massive explosion in home runs and popularity. At the same time, PED use proliferated across the league.
The turning point came in 2007, when the Mitchell Report exposed widespread steroid use across decades, naming dozens of players.
Critics argue that Selig‘s leadership, or his inaction, contributed to an environment in which PEDs were allowed to flourish.
The league later turned its back on implicated players once public pressure mounted.
When Selig was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 via the Today’s Game Era Committee, a 16-person panel, many viewed the decision as a controversial fast-track.
For Rodriguez and many supporters of other PED-tainted stars, like Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, the argument is straightforward: if Selig deserves Cooperstown status despite presiding over the Steroid Era, then elite players from that era should at least be considered fairly.
The Associated Press’s Bernie Wilson argued for accountability for the Steroid Era, saying, “Let’s admit that the quaint concept of integrity in baseball is BS, so why should we care anymore?”
A’Rod‘s own Hall of Fame entry remains unlikely
Former superstar Alex Rodriguez is entering his fifth year on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the trends suggest he’s not getting in.
With less than 40% percent of the vote for the Class of 2025, Rodriguez has once again failed to reach the 75% threshold needed for induction.
For all his prodigious statistics, 696 career home runs, 3,115 hits, 2,086 RBIs, 14 All-Star appearances, and three AL MVP awards, the memory of his 2014 suspension for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) continues to haunt his bid for immortality.
The shadow cast by his PED history looms large. Rodriguez‘s 162-game ban after the Biogenesis scandal remains a stain, one seemingly unforgiven by a large portion of the voting body.
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