Group from baseball's Steroid Era on this year's HOF ballot

[TitoFan]

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for first time - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN


Anybody that follows baseball knew this was coming. And it's sure to create some tremendous discussions and controversy, with opinions on both sides. Should Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, et al. be inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame? Why or why not? There's gonna be some heated arguments about this one in baseball circles.

Even if you don't follow baseball, it shares the same story line as many other sports. Lance Armstrong was recently stripped of all his Tour de France titles and is still getting dragged through the mud as a result of his cheating. PED use in boxing has become the norm. Olympic athletes have been stripped of medals due to doping.

So what do you think about these guys being inducted into the HOF and why? I've seen and heard lots of persuasive arguments on both sides through the media. Personally, I feel they shouldn't be inducted. I just feel the sanctity of the game and its revered records should be respected and preserved. I was just as excited as everybody else about the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa back in '98. But after all the doping allegations came out, I became disenchanted and feel like the records of the past have been unfairly erased.

What do you think?

[p4pking]

Unless any of them ever actually tested positive, then they damn well have to be inducted imo. To suggest otherwise really sets a nasty precident which holds true for any sport. The onus HAS to lie on the commissions to administer strict testing if they really want to clean this stuff up, which I doubt is the case.

Personally I think they may as well just legalize steroids in the MLB as it's clearly just rampant anyways and nobody is being physically hurt by it. I'd rather watch flies fuck than baseball anyways though to be honest.

[Kirkland Laing]

They're all guilty as fuck. They should all be shunned like Pete Rose for the rest of their lives.

[El Kabong]

I don't like them being included and it will take a very long time for them to get in the Hall of Fame but I think eventually they will. I think the Hall of Fame already has steroid users in but nobody has bothered to study them. Nolan Ryan's numbers and longevity look suspicious in hindsight & Rickey Henderson & Dennis Eckersley played on those Oakland A's teams with McGwire and Canseco and they had stellar careers as well. The deal is this when the steroids were taken they weren't against the rules. Amphetimines are also a huge issue in pro baseball and those are now illegal as well.

It's a grey area and very hard to address due to baseball turning a blind eye to it. They've made their bed, I think Bud Selig has done as much harm to the game as good and his place in the Hall once he is done as commissioner is very debatable (I hope).


That said, it'll take forever for them to get the votes to get in

[TitoFan]

One thing that should be noted is that Mark McGwire's name has been on the ballot for the last 5 or 6 years, and he hasn't even come close to achieving the required 75% of the votes for induction. Matter of fact, the trending seems to be going down. It'll be interesting to see how that percentage changes, if at all, now that the rest of the group from the Steroid Era is on this year's ballot.

I also agree it's a humongous task, and I don't envy the voters in the least bit. Either way you vote, you're going to get criticized and second-guessed. But yeah... you gotta draw the line somewhere. I mean, some of these steroid-aided stats, especially when these people were at a mature age, are ridiculous. Look at Barry Bonds, never hitting over 50 home runs in a season before hitting 73 at the ripe old age of 37. Not to mention the fact that he probably weighs twice as much as when he began his career with the Pirates, and his head is the size of a large bowling ball.

[Kirkland Laing]

According to Giants clubhouse staff his cap size increased three and a half sizes from his first year with the Giants to his last year.

[El Kabong]

According to Giants clubhouse staff his cap size increased three and a half sizes from his first year with the Giants to his last year.

Of course look at him

He was by no means "tiny" when he played with the Pirates, but give me a break he looked like a WWE wrestler before all was said and done.

[TitoFan]

Exactly! Of course... Bonds would have us believe it was all a product of extreme weightlifting and training.
But still..... what about that melon?

[VictorCharlie]

I have no issue with them being put in the HoF. The focus is always on the hitters that were juicing but not the pitchers. Instead of asking how many of Bond's HRs were hit while on roids ask the question how many fastballs from pitchers on juice did he see? Call it the era of steroids if you want and I think its fitting but it wasn't only hitters that were taked PEDs.

[Kirkland Laing]

Yep, there were lots of scrub pitchers who turned up for spring training in their contract year and started throwing 95 mph fastballs. Banish everybody whose performance altered significantly from how it projected during the steroid era.

[El Kabong]

But the issue isn't just steroids & HGH it's the amphetimines these guys were on too. 162 games is a long season, plus the playoffs it's even longer...those drugs that got guys up and got them focused, those are PEDS too

[Kirkland Laing]

But the issue isn't just steroids & HGH it's the amphetimines these guys were on too. 162 games is a long season, plus the playoffs it's even longer...those drugs that got guys up and got them focused, those are PEDS too

Not to the extent where it doubled home run production for some batters. Forget speed which was and probably still is widespread. The stats jumps in the steroid era are what should be dealt with.

[El Kabong]

But the issue isn't just steroids & HGH it's the amphetimines these guys were on too. 162 games is a long season, plus the playoffs it's even longer...those drugs that got guys up and got them focused, those are PEDS too

Not to the extent where it doubled home run production for some batters. Forget speed which was and probably still is widespread. The stats jumps in the steroid era are what should be dealt with.

No actually they pop players for that now'a'days too. Trust me, in order to "get up" for every single game it helps.


But nah the BIG issue in baseball is "Why are players using smokeless tobacco"?

[VictorCharlie]

Kirk,

How did a guy like you (this isn't pejoratively speaking, just I know a lot of US born people that don't follow baseball) get into MLB?

[TitoFan]

But the issue isn't just steroids & HGH it's the amphetimines these guys were on too. 162 games is a long season, plus the playoffs it's even longer...those drugs that got guys up and got them focused, those are PEDS too

Not to the extent where it doubled home run production for some batters. Forget speed which was and probably still is widespread. The stats jumps in the steroid era are what should be dealt with.

I feel the same way. Baseball, more than most team sports, reveres statistics. I've never seen a sport so consumed by them. And just when you think you know all the stats in baseball, they come up with new ones. So to see juiced up players make a mockery out of some of the most cherished records of all time, is a bit difficult to swallow.