If I Had A Vote: Halsey Says Yes To Clemens and Bonds

READING - Growing up, John Halsey was one of the best catchers in suburban Chicago. Okay, admittedly there isn't much research behind that statement but the former Little League and Babe Ruth MVP knows baseball, maybe even better than he knows Reading town government.

Halsey, a member of the Reading Select Board, started his love affair with America's pastime on the Chicago sandlots when he was 7 years old. Now, 62 years later it's clear Halsey still feels as comfortable in a baseball uniform as in a coat and tie.

The subject before him on a freezing January day isn't government. It's baseball. On Tuesday Major League Baseball will announce the results of this year's Hall of Fame balloting. No issue has dominated the Hall of Fame discussion like steroids and two all-time greats linked with them, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. So if the manager of the Reading Bulldogs had a vote, would Clemens and Bonds get in?

"Yes. I say that because if you look at their careers statistically they're stunning. No one can argue that," said Halsey of Clemens (354 wins, 7 Cy Youngs) and Bonds (first in MLB with 762 home runs. Players need to be on 75 percent of the ballots to get in, but Clemens received 57.3 percent of the vote in 2018, with Bonds at 56.4 percent.

"Secondly, Major League Baseball had their back turned on the things that these two men have been accused of. They pretended like it wasn't there. I don't personally think that justifies bad behavior but here's the reality. There are things in the Hall of Fame that are explicitly non-starters, gambling on baseball for example. So, what about steriods? ... A lot of people get accused and I'm not suggesting these guys did or didn't use steriods. I mean if you look at them physically it would leave you with a question. If you look at their statistics at their particular ages it would leave you with a big question, but honestly these guys have never been proven guilty of anything."

Halsey, a White Sox fan, knows steroid suspicions weren't limited to two players.

"You have a whole flock of baseball players that put up staggering numbers over a 20-year period of time, essentially between 1990 and 2010. There seems to have been a lot of chemical support for some of that. Once you finally take a position as Major League baseball did and dug in and said you can't do this, you can't do that, we're going to test you ... the numbers have changed, haven't they? At least to my way of looking at it they've changed."

To Halsey, the bottom line is simple.

"These guys in their respective positions were overwhelmingly good in the first 10 years of their careers, and stunningly good, surprisingly so, in the last 10 years of their career. A very long answer to what should be a simple question. If I was voting, I would vote them in. We've got to get this behind us in baseball. That's my opinion. The sooner we acknowledge certain people like this, the better off we are."

Halsey should know and his baseball resume is proof. He graduated from high school in 1967 and attended Augustana College where he played football in the fall, baseball in the summer. His playing days ended in his mid-20s.

"When it falls off the table it falls off fast," said Halsey.

He came to Reading in 1989 and has spent countless hours coaching and developing young players and helping recreational programs get off the ground. He founded the Reading Bulldogs of the Intercity League 10 years ago and remains the general manager and field manager. He's a member of the Board of Directors of Reading Babe Ruth and Reading Little League softball. And he founded the Reading Baseball Club, a non-profit group with the goal of improving playing fields in Reading. Many of the improvements you see at the RMHS baseball field come from money raised by the Reading Baseball Club.

As a coach, Halsey has brought five different teams to play at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown N.Y., home of the Hall of Fame. And of course, he's a Red Sox season ticket holder. Halsey has three children and six grandchildren and as you read this it's entirely possible each has a glove in one hand and a ball in the other. The baseball doesn't fall far from the tree.

After more than 30 minutes of good baseball talk the interview was over. Or was it?

"I think a guy who's being ignored for all the wrong reasons who is probably a borderline guy but if I had a vote I'd vote for him is Curt Schilling," said Halsey of the former Red Sox pitcher who received 51.2 percent of the vote last year. "Not only are his stats exceptionally good, and they're right on the edge of Hall of Fame normal entry, he did that in postseason play at a very high level with three different teams.

"You look at Schilling here with the bloody sock thing, and what he was able to accomplish as a teammate at an extremely high level of performance. To me those are Hall of Fame credentials. He's getting ignored because he didn't get along with the media too well. That's unfortunate."

Halsey could go on if asked.

"I can sit and talk hot stove endlessly because I just love baseball. I love going back and forth. I get that everybody doesn't agree with everybody. That's what kinda makes it fun."

The Reading Select Board meets again Tuesday, just a few minutes after MLB announces the 2019 Hall of Fame results. When it comes time for public comment, feel free to talk baseball with the old catcher.

Photo of John Halsey at Select Board Meeting by Bob Holmes