FAME GAME: Yankees legend Reggie Jackson (above left) tells Sports Illustrated steroid or other PED use should bar players such as Alex Rodriguez (above right) from the Hall of Fame, and the outspoken Jackson also said some players who are in, such as late Met Gary Carter (inset) shouldn’t be. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg; Reuters (inset))
Alex Rodriguez will be in Boston tonight, trying to improve on his career total of 642 homers, but no matter where the Yankees third baseman finishes on the home run list, Reggie Jackson will have doubts because of Rodriguez’s admitted use of PEDs.
”Al’s a very good friend, but I think there are real questions about his numbers,” Jackson told Sports Illustrated. “As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his records.”
With players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time next year, Jackson added he is prepared to skip the induction ceremony if they or any other players linked to steroid use make the cut.
According to him, he won’t be alone, either.
”If any of those guys get in, no Hall of Famer will attend,” said Jackson, now a special adviser to the Yankees.
Mark McGwire’s inability to get even 25 percent of the vote is an indication none of those players are headed to Cooperstown anytime soon, but the list may eventually include Rodriguez, who Jackson has said in the past could still be worthy of enshrinement if he continued to hit at a Hall-of-Fame rate now that there is testing.
Jackson is also torn about another current Yankee.
“The question is going to be a guy like Andy Pettitte, who admitted that he got involved for a while, but who is so universally respected in the game,” Jackson said. “I think he’ll get in, but there will be a lot of [members] who won’t go.”
He may make an exception for the lefty, though.
“He’s an awfully good friend,” Jackson said. “I’ve known Andy since he was 20. I’ll leave it there.”
The former slugger also said he was unhappy with a number of players he feels are undeserving of being in the Hall of Fame who have recently been inducted — including Gary Carter, the late former Met.
”I didn’t see Kirby Puckett as a Hall of Famer,” Jackson said. “I didn’t see Gary Carter as a Hall of Famer. I didn’t see Don Sutton as a Hall of Famer. I didn’t see Phil Niekro as a Hall of Famer. As much as I like Jim Rice, I’m not so sure he’s a Hall of Famer.”