Yesterday, Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. Even though I'm not a huge baseball follower, I know that these two deserve the honor.
In addition, the baseball writers denied entrance to Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Jeff Bagwell mainly because they were players in the Steroids Era of baseball. The question is that should baseball allowed players from that era be inducted in the Hall of Fame.
I say yes. This is the MLB Hall of Fame, not a church or the Boy Scouts. Let's judge players on their stats and how they play the game. There's no question about the stats of the players who weren't inducted like McGwire. It's not steroids or other performance-enhancement drugs made their great ballplayers all of the sudden. It's not a magic pill. If baseball writers denied players from the steroids era to be inducted, how about the players who inducted who played in the era when players to amphetamines. Should they be kicked out just for that? That would be ridiculous. In addition, in the case of Jeff Bagwell, he never flunked a drug test or have no proof that he even took steroids. He's just guilty of association. Also, what happens when Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be eligible. Should we banned them from the Hall as well? At this rate, no one will be inducted.
It's time for us to grow up and allow players like McGwire to be inducted. After all, if players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Mickey Mantle can be inducted despite their personal vices, why should McGwire, Bonds, and Clemens?
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