The 2015 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting welcomed four new members, three of whom were pitchers. This influx of pitchers brings to question where the MLB Hall of Fame stands on using performance-enhancing drugs. Many of these players, including Barry Bonds, who holds the all time home run record, have been accused or questioned on whether or not they have used performance-enhancing drugs, also known as PEDs.

The 2015 class of inductees includes Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio. Biggio is the only position player of the four.

This was Johnson, Martinez, and Smoltz’s first year on the ballot, but their elections into the Hall of Fame surprised no one as each pitcher boasts an earned run average (ERA) below 3.5 for their entire career.

Starting his career in 1988 with the Montreal Expos, now the Washington Nationals, in 1988 Johnson won three of his four starts with one indecision, meaning that his performance did not have an outcome on the final score. Johnson’s 2002 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who he will be representing in the Hall of Fame, boasted a 2.32 ERA. However, one of the most memorable moments in his career came in 2001 when, during the seventh inning of a spring training game, Johnson threw a fastball that struck a dove causing the bird to explode into a cloud of feathers.

Mr. Matt Sawyer, an English teacher and Head Baseball coach at Williston, spoke on Johnson’s style of pitching, noting, “Randy Johnson was amazing because he was so tall and so dominant when he was on. The trajectory of his pitches was so different.”

In his rookie season of 1992, Pedro Martinez only played in two games with only one start on the mound. Martinez’s career began in the bullpen as a relief pitcher, but when he landed in Montreal to play for the Expos he was moved into the starting rotation. During this season, Martinez’s ERA sat at a 3.42. However, he only improved, with a 1.74 ERA in 29 starts during the 2000 season when he played for the Boston Red Sox.

In his final season with the Boston Red Sox, Martinez led the team to a World Series championship and eventually to their first World Series ring in 87 years, breaking the rumored curse of Babe Ruth.

Mr. Ben Demerath, the Fine and Performing Arts Department head at Williston, commented on this achievement, saying, “Like all Red Sox fans, I appreciate how much he helped them win it all in 2004.”

Debuting in the same year as Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and the Braves reignited baseball in Atlanta. Pitching alongside Atlanta legends such as Gregg Maddux and Tom Glavine, both of whom have been elected into the Hall of Fame, Smoltz had accomplished mentors. Five years after his debut in 1992, Smoltz had one of the best seasons of his career. In his 35 starts, he maintained a 2.85 ERA and threw nine complete games. However, Smoltz only won 15 of these 35 games and picked up 12 losses along the way.

On the day of their induction Smoltz made an impression on the Hall of Fame as a joker when he saw six-foot ten inches tall Randy Johnson struggling to put on his Hall of Fame Jersey. So, Smoltz picked up Johnson’s hat and stood on a chair to place of on Johnson’s head.

As Mr. Sawyer said, “the fact that he [Biggio] played three different positions [catcher, second base, and centerfield] well puts him over the top.” Biggio would spend his 20 years as a Major League Baseball player with the Houston Astros. In his rookie season Biggio played in 50 games. He had a .211 batting average that highlighted six doubles, one triple, three home runs, and six stolen bases. Of his twenty seasons playing professional baseball, Biggio played at least 150 games of the 162 game season, and in three of these seasons he played every game. Biggio’s ability to play multiple positions made him successful for the Astros.

Even though these four players have reached baseball highest stage, the Hall of Fame, there are still other known players who have yet to receive the 412 required votes to be inducted. Notable names on this list include Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds.

However, all of these players were in the public spotlight during the period in baseball history that has come to be known as The Steroid Era. It has been proven that Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career and Piazza and Clemens have been questioned on the topic.

Mr. Sawyer noted, “It is a difficult situation because many in the so-called ‘steroids era’ were using PED’s. Some were caught, some are obviously suspected, and some are probably lumped in to the group unfairly. If they are known to use steroids, like Manny [Ramirez] or [Mark] McGwire, then they should not be on the ballot, just as Pete Rose is not on the ballot.” He added, “The others who seem to be dirty? I guess it is up to each writer and his or her conscience.”

Many of baseball’s writers and correspondents, the voting body for the Hall of Fame, hold back from voting on players who have used questionable methods. Not one potential steroid user has been elected into the Hall of Fame. However, the notion exists that if one of these players were inducted into the Hall of Fame, more would follow.

The years to come will welcome many more of baseball’s finest, such as Ken Griffey Jr. who will join the ballot next year, and in a few more years Derek Jeter, who has been an idol to baseball players, both amateur and professional, into the Hall of Fame.