The 2007 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was sent to baseball writers last week. It included names such as Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, but all the talk is about Mark McGwire.
McGwire finished his career with 583 home runs, which puts him seventh on the alltime home run list. Normally 500 home runs guarantee a players spot in Cooperstown, which is where the baseball hall of fame is located in New York.
McGwire is a different story though. He is suspected of using steroids during his career, which has a lot of the voters saying they won’t vote for him.
Big Mac became a legend during the summer of 1998. His race with Sammy Sosa for the single season home run record was the biggest story of the year. Everyone loved both McGwire and Sosa.
McGwire gave an interview during which the supplement Andro was spotted in his locker. It wasn’t illegal then so nobody paid a lot of attention. Big Mac and Sosa were being credited with saving baseball.
Now in 2006, after Jose Conseco said McGwire used steroids while they were teammates, McGwire is going to be left out of the hall of fame. There is no proof that McGwire used steroids at all. There weren’t tests for steroids when McGwire played.
Even if there had been tests McGwire wouldn’t have been punished because the substances he was using weren’t illegal at the time. He wasn’t doing anything wrong according to the rules of baseball.
The voters want to make an example of McGwire because he is the first player from the “steroids era” to be eligible for the hall. In doing so they are keeping a deserving player from the honor he deserves.
Other players will be on the ballot in the future that carry the same suspicions as Big Mac. What will the writers do with them? Will Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Barry Bonds get in? All these players carry heavy suspicion of steroid use.
Bonds is in no matter what. Even if you credit 200 of his home runs to steroids and don’t count them, his numbers are still unbelievable. Sosa and everyone else will have a tougher time though.
What about players such as Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Albert Pujols? Nobody really thinks any of these players used steroids but will they be punished for playing in the “steroid era?”
Ramirez and Pujols are two of the greatest hitters to ever play the game of baseball. We are talking about two of the top 10 hitters of all time. They have to get in don’t they?
I am not supporting the use of steroids. They do horrible things to your body. But how do you punish someone for using a substance that isn’t even illegal? The voters will have to decide if they want Big Mac in the hall of fame in the next few months. I, for one, am cheering for him.