I'm glad to know that the writers believe that a handful of superstars from the 80's and 90's abused drugs and nobody knew about it. Not the commissioner or the owners or the average player or the writers or the fans. I'm glad to know that they think these guys were just the tip of the iceberg and that players at all levels of the sport were doing similar things. I'm glad to know that the lords of baseball were not thrilled beyond belief that all these wondrous things were happening after the strikes and lockouts laid the sport low. Wouldn't want the Hall of Fame tainted by the admission of guys who did everything they could to make as much money as possible while the people in authority all looked the other way and cheered on their results. I have a compromise to suggest. The players involved should all agree to confess their use of steroids if they want entrance to the Hall. They should agree to do a certain number of speaking engagements a year to tell young people how dangerous the products they used were and what the possible effects of PED use can be. That needs to be on display to balance out the "positive" effects that we'll all be honoring them for when we visit the Hall of Fame. The writers involved should agree to do speaking engagements also to tell the public about the pressures involved in covering a big market like professional baseball. They should be honest about how easy it is to look the other way while everybody covering the teams is winking at the problem and deciding it's not their issue to raise. There are questions of liability after all as well as the possibility that you'll get fired for strangling the golden goose. They should talk about the hypocrisy involved in doing the above and then not voting for the same players they enabled by their silence. The owners should speak about the impact of the PED issue on their sport. They should acknowledge that there is no way that the number of players abusing PED's was as large as it was without the owners being complicit in the process. The player's union should speak out about why effective testing was not setup as soon as it became clear that Arnold Schwarzenegger would look kind of average if not exactly scrawny in any room full of power hitters. They should talk about why the player's first answer to any testing is always no. It's a good topic, BTW, one that touches on many other ills in society and some of government and society. Should the guys who got snubbed really be kept out of the Hall of Fame due to their obvious use of PED's? Not if baseball wants the Hall to mean anything at all. But a lot of people have to talk a lot more honestly about what went on before we put these guys up on a pedestal. If Baseball doesn't do that then they are failing the obligation that they have placed upon themselves to be moral and upstanding and some kind of example for the kids they suck in by the millions every year. And there is a Shoeless Joe for this era. Roger Clemens most likely perjured himself and aquittal on that charge not withstanding I don't think you can let him in the Hall until he admits his PED use and thereby also the perjury. I don't think he can do that and ultimately I think that means he shouldn't be in the Hall. And BTW, one guy has admitted his use of PED's and he did it despite heavy personal pressures. He's blackballed from the Hall of Fame as a result. That's Mark McGwire. If any of the guys above, who denied, lied and obfuscated get in before him it is a mortal injustice. McGwire I'm sure would do the speaking engagements because I think he gets it. Maybe he and Sammy Sosa could do an education tour beforehand, letting people know what happened and why. Explaining the dangers in English and Spanish to the kids they speak in front of. That would be Hall of Fame worthy.
Biggio and Bagwell should have been first ballot inductees, they were the Houston Astros. Also, they were class acts with the fans regarding autographs and appearances. They were great both offensively and defensively. Baseball writers need to quit with the snooty shit and put great players in the hall.
