Thanks for the long and thoughtful post.

I would like to add that those in the HOF who want to mark the current players as “Steroid Era” need to include on their HOF “Greenies Era” or “Spitball Era” to be consistant and fair.

I am not for the use of steroids, but every Era has had their version of cheating, but in the past they did not have Cable, Satalite, Internet, Blogs, etc to take it to the same lever that the Steroid issue is.

…and to not feature the “steroid Era” would mean not documenting a rather substantial and to say the least interesting time in baseball.

I do agree that they shouldn’t get in, however I agree with Cubbie-Tim above, about the Greenie situation. These guys were out partying the night before, and felt like crap, so they got a little boost on game day. Either that, or they were bagged come September, and needed a pick-me-up to get through a doubleheader. Either way, it’s performance enhancing. Any HOF member that calls out these guys that used greenies is a hypocrite!

I take Buster Olney’s approach: you can either vote for those deserving players from the era, or vote for none.

No one will definitively know how many or which players were using PEDs (or still are). To selectively exclude some because they appear to have used is ridiculous, IMO.

Those that have admitted to using or have been caught are a different case, obviously, as the evidence surrounding them is more than circumstantial.

Why should the steroid era be any different?

1) Babe Ruth did not play against the best talent. Without question, Ruth’s numbers would be different had black players been allowed in the majors. What that would have been would have been anyone’s guess. I found this little table on baseball-reference.com of active HR leaders:

Rank Player (age) Home Runs Bats
1. Barry Bonds* (43) 762 L
2. Ken Griffey* (38) 611 L
3. Sammy Sosa (39) 609 R
4. Alex Rodriguez (32) 553 R
5. Jim Thome* (37) 541 L
6. Manny Ramirez (36) 527 R
7. Frank Thomas (40) 521 R
8. Gary Sheffield (39) 499 R
9. Carlos Delgado* (36) 469 L
10. Mike Piazza (39) 427 R

Now, look at that list, remove the black and latino players, and then tell me that Ruth’s numbers are completely within context.

2) The raised mound of Gibson’s era.

3) Greenies and amphetamines.

All those factors had profound effects on the game and the numbers. Are steroids worse than those? I have no idea. I haven’t seen any definitive proof one way or the other.

As far as I’m concerned, Costas has got it right. All these numbers have to be taken in relation to the period that they were in. Steroids is a tainted era, but it’s hardly the only one. Steroid use should not be a disqualification for HoF inclusion.

by pointing their finger.

Glanville said it well the other day in one of the threads see right on this blog:

"But I don’t see the good in selling our souls while claiming we want to chase the devil from our midst "

…in the way they “help” a ballplayer? Night and day in my book.

I think we need to make some distinctions. The MLB rules prohibit the use of many drugs including all illegal drugs, But I don’t think we would ban a player from the HOF if all he did was smoke pot. The reason everyone is in an uproar is because of the label ‘performance enhancing’ drugs. I am not advocating the use of these drugs but let’s talk about a few things here.

First, you can not take these drugs, sit on your behind, get bigger then hit home runs. These drugs work in unison with the player working out and developing the muscles. The players still have to have the hand/eye coordination and other talents to perform at the major league level.

Second, as noted in other posts, they often competed against other players who also used performance enhancements. There were pitchers that could throw harder and outfielders who could jump higher.

What other things that are considered legal are performance enhancers? Modern medical technology allows for players to get their knees, elbows, shoulders and various other parts repaired, sometimes even better than they were before. Management of various diseases is a lot more efficient today than in the past. How much better would Ron Santo be in today’s world? MLB allows LASIK surgery, is it possible that a player’s eyesight will be better than with glasses. He certainly won’t have pesky glasses, goggles, or contacts to deal with. Training facilities, medical staff, dietitians, trainers, equipment, and many other things in today’s modern baseball world can all be considered performance enhancing.

Finally, whether we like it or not it is hard to put in a rule banning something if you do not have a way to equally enforce the rule. We don’t have to like the ‘steroid’ era but we should figure out a way to deal with it and move on.

He cheated. It was in the rules. He got caught and he was punished. End of story. His records are recognized by Major League Baseball and his accomplishments are part of the Hall of Fame museum. Pete the man is not in the Hall of Fame.

I got nothing else.

I am sympathetic to their plight and would only keep them and their records out of the Hall if the same treatment was applied to all owners, managers, trainers, and (especially) MLB officials who coached, paid, and encouraged PED use. Remember it was MLB who paid for all the TV ads telling us and the players how much chicks dig the long ball.

If the cops let us know that they aren’t going to enforce the speed limit, how many of us would observe the posted speed? Especially if there was a monetary award for going the fastest.

Suppose each of us were taking an employment test and the proctor left the room without supervision. Then suppose over half the class was cheating and passing around an answer sheet. Suppose you need the job. You’re pretty sure you’d qualify ahead of the others if the test was properly monitored, but you’re worried now cause you wonder if you can outscore the others. The answer sheet passes by. You wouldn’t look at the crib sheet? Remember, you need the job. And, by the way, the proctor kinda gave a wink and a nod when he left, telling everybody that his “teacher rating” would go up if everyone did well and he’d share the benefit with all test-takers..

The players were wrong, sure. But, come on, and look at the big picture. I was saddened by A-Rod’s admission, but I was completely sickened by Selig’s self-righteous and disingenuous condemnation blaming A-Rod for “shaming the game” without taking any responsibility for his role and that of his fellow billionaire owners.

Oh well, we blame low-ranking untrained soliders for torture at Abu Ghraid without fingering the higher-ups. So, we might as well scapegoat the players for PED use.

Sorry for the rant, but this whole thing p*****s me off to no end and I hate to see the game I love stuck in a downward spiral bathed in hypocrisy