For ex-Reading Baseball Coach, the Hall of Fame Answer is No

After 35 years and 560 wins, Peter Moscariello knows a good player when he sees one. But as the former Reading High baseball coach found out, sometimes it takes a strong coffee and little conversation to know exactly where you stand.

Major League Baseball will announce its Hall of Fame class on Wednesday and for all the talk of steroids, Twitter, and character, you might think a math teacher would block out the noise and focus on the numbers. If that were the case, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others linked to steroids would have Moscariello's vote. Think again.

"It's such a tough yes or no," said Moscariello, 63, shortly after sitting down to talk baseball at D'Amici's in Reading Center. "I have felt pretty strongly that in deference to the guys who we think played by the rules, I don't know if I could vote for a Clemens, a Bonds, a [Sammy] Sosa or [Rafael] Palmeiro.

"[If I had a ballot] I'd stare at it for a week and say, this guy won seven Cy Youngs, Roger Clemens is arguably one of the top three pitchers of all time, Bonds is arguably one of the top 10 players of all time. Could I not vote for those guys and then vote for, and I'm not demeaning anyone else, Tim Raines who wasn't the player Bonds was, or Mike Mussina, who wasn't the pitcher Clemens was but was pretty good. Are those guys going to get in mostly because the Bonds, Clemens group isn't going to get in?"

Many feel the baseball writers who vote for the Hall are changing their opinions on the Steroid Era players. Years ago it appeared Bonds didn't have a chance to get in. Wednesday's vote is expected to show there's more support for guys like Bonds, even if he's denied this time around.

"I can see it softening a little bit," said Moscariello, who retired as Reading's baseball coach in 2013 and today teaches math at Lowell Catholic along with his work at "Personal Best," a mental toughness training school. "It just such a gray area. And where does [David] Ortiz stand in this? Manny Ramirez? You don't know. It's just impossible to tell."

But the bottom line for Moscariello isn't a stat sheet. As the conversation continued, it became focused on a player's decision to cheat the system.

"We all have opportunities in our lives and careers to break rules and cheat to benefit ourselves and we chose not to. If we can do that, making our measly salaries, then these guys can do that and still go home with their paychecks. These guys were god blessed to have this unbelievable talent, and of course they worked for it. But it's a privilege and an honor and to abuse it ... where as the rest of the world, their fans, play by the rules, work two jobs so they can make $60,000 bucks just so their kids can go to soccer camp, that's the part that irks me. That's probably why I wouldn't put them on my ballot."

And what about Red Sox hero Curt Schilling? The debate about Schilling often veers off into his politics, and more specifically, his Twitter account.

"That is a misuse of the real honor and privilege to be a voting member. For guys who say I don't like Schilling's politics or this guy blew me off in an interview, I think that's a misuse. Do those guys want to take Ty Cobb out because I'm sure he wasn't a nice guy ... Who knows if some of those old-timers were in the social media era how they would be viewed. Mickey Mantle's career might have been a lot different if people reported what the Yankees were doing.

"I think Schilling should go in on his merits, or not go in on his merits. Personally I wouldn't vote for Schilling. He was really, really good and I think his post-season is what would put him in if he gets in but I'd have to look at it more carefully, look at Schilling vs. Mussina. But 140 characters shouldn't determine if the guy gets in or not."

Moscariello has another way of determining who is Hall of Fame worthy.

"I always felt like, if it's a once-sided game and you know Mickey Mantle is going to bat in the bottom of ninth, I'll stay around to see what Mantle does. I'd stay around to see Mike Trout does. I'd probably stay around to see what Ortiz does or to see if Brooks Robinson makes a play or Ozzie Smith would make a play. Would I stay around to see Tim Raines get one more at bat, I don't think so. Would I stick around to see Trevor Hoffman pitch the ninth? I probably would. I would vote for Hoffman for sure.

"You start feeling like an disgruntled old-timer when you say 'back in my day Stan Musial' ... But there are plenty of guys now that I would stay around to watch a bad team just to see one player, to see Ken Griffey play, to see Johnny Bench catch. If you look at today's ballot some of those guys would meet that test, some of them probably wouldn't."

The discussion that began with a degree of uncertainty, ended with no doubts on what to do with those linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

"Not Bonds, not Clemens, not Sosa, not Palmeiro, not McGuire, although I don't know if McGuire is a Hall of Famer anyway," said Moscariello. "I think I side with the guys who say all or none, and right now I'd say none."