Hall of Fame's Rule 5 Must Be Used to Make Tommy John and Jim Kaat Members

One of the guidelines for Hall of Fame voters is Rule 5, which states, "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

Rule 5 will prevent Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens not only from being elected in their first year of eligibility, it will probably be the reason they are never voted in.

Now, let's call out the Hall of Fame voters because they can't have it both ways.

If they want to invoke Rule 5 to block Bonds and Clemens, they must use Rule 5 vote in Tommy John and Jim Kaat. This is not about John or Kaat. It is about the disingenuous application of Rule 5.

John's playing record is considered just below Hall of Fame standards. He won 288 games, had a 3.34 ERA, started 700 games and was a 20-game winner three times. Close but not quite enough until one includes Rule 5.

The same is true for Kaat, who won 283 games, had a 3.45 ERA and won at least 20 games three times.

Voters don't use Rule 5 to determine if players such as John and Kaat make the Hall of Fame based on their record and their integrity, sportsmanship and character.

On Aug. 13, 1981, John's 2-year-old son, Travis, fell out of third floor window. His head hit the fender of a parked car. John flew to his home in New Jersey from Detroit, where the New York Yankees were playing. John remained at Travis' bedside for 19 days, until the little boy came out of a coma.

The only time John left his son was on the days he was scheduled to pitch.

“As far as I was concerned,” John said, according to Michael Fellon of sabr.org, “there was never any choice. How can you choose baseball—or any job, or any profession—ahead of your little boy? … Could I ever sleep at night with the thought that I had shirked the job of bringing my son back to full health and strength?”

The Hall of Fame voters readily impugn players such as Jeff Bagwell because he played during the steroid era. Voters are obligated to invoke Rule 5 for Tommy John, Jim Kaat and others that meet Hall of Fame standards.

It is simple. If Rule 5 is a liability to the Hall of Fame candidacies of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire, it must be used as an asset for John and Kaat.