PED's & the Hall of Fame: My thoughts

Photo Credit: FiveThirtyEight

I've been a baseball fan since the mid-1990's when I was a young kid and I grew up in the peak of the steroid era. One of my fondest memories of the early years of my watching baseball was the home run race of '98 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. As a kid, it was exciting to watch the rivalry between the 2, but it was also one of the biggest letdowns to find out that it was all bogus and they were using PED's. I also remember Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds play in their peak, but I was disappointed because they were also 2 of the more prominent guys connected to the Mitchell Report. I also appreciate that these were 2 great players without steroids. Even without PED's, I'm sure both would have been on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Which brings me to the point of this article: My thoughts on PED's and getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This has always conflicted me because taking PED's is obviously wrong, but at the same time, should that really bar guys like Clemens and Bonds from getting in, since they were likely good enough to warrant a Hall of Fame induction anyway? This is a question I've wrestled with as a fan for some time, but ultimately, I think the guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should get in. It ultimately comes down to "Were these guys good enough to warrant selection without using PED's?" As I mentioned above, I think Bonds and Clemens both were talented enough without PED's. It's hard to say for sure, but that's just my personal opinion.

However, I do think the Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers Association of America, who votes on who gets in, might want to put something out along the lines of "We don't condone steroid use, but we felt that the players in here who were connected with the Mitchell Report would have merited selection without steroids." Or something like that. Because there are guys still active like Alex Rodriguez, David Ortz (who never actually failed a test, but was connected with the Mitchell Report), and Manny Ramirez who aren't eligible for selection yet, but who could be on the ballot when their time comes shortly, and this whole debate will start again. That is, if it ever stops.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but ultimately, if they were good enough to get in without PED's, they should be at least given their fair shot. That's my 2 cents on the matter.

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