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    Steroid Stain Hits Hall of Fame Door

    By JIM ARMSTRONG,
    AOL
    Posted: 2008-07-03 15:34:00
    Filed Under: MLB, Voices
    Sports Commentary

    The Patriots are putting the finishing touches on a perfect season. The Celtics, the NBA's most storied franchise, are experiencing a renaissance after years of futility. Hawaii, a team that once lost 18 games in a row, is playing in a BCS bowl game.

    Photo Gallery: Five Things You Need to Know

    Stan Honda, AFP / Getty Images

    1. Every team is connected to steroids in some way. Lead investigator George Mitchell was clear in his press conference that all 30 clubs are linked to performance-enhancing substances in some fashion.

        1 of 5



    So which story is grabbing the most headlines these days? That would be none of the above.

    With all the great stuff going on in the sports world, all anyone is talking about is the Mitchell Report.

    Steroids. HGH. Andro. BALCO. Testosterone in a bottle. Used to be all you needed to be a sports fan was a couch and a remote. Now you need a pharmacy degree.

    So much for a player to be named later. The names are out there now, some more disgraced than others. The list ranged from MVPs and Cy Young winners to middle relievers and utility infielders.

    Some were victims of hearsay. Others were caught red-handed with their names on personal checks to an acknowledged steroids dealer. And some were ratted out by former trainers who liked to play with needles.

    I wasn't angry upon hearing of the 86 players who allegedly sold their souls for money. The anger is gone, having given way to an overbearing sense of sadness, to a realization that the only numbers that matter in baseball these days are the ones preceded by dollar signs.

    How pathetic is it when the powers that be in their own industry go public with players' names? Or that former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell didn't provide his voluminous report to the Players Association until an hour before Thursday’s historic press conference?


    Obviously, this goes beyond naming names. The commissioner's office wanted to embarrass the players, wanted to leave them twisting in the wind, wanted to render them defenseless in the court of public opinion.

    Give Mitchell this: He did a bang-up job. Sure, some of his evidence was flimsy, but much of it removed any and all question marks surrounding players whose names had been regulars on the rumor mill for years.

    So now what? First things first, the deny-deny-deny drill will commence any day now. Already has, in fact. Roger Clemens, through his attorney, is denying everything. Or how about former big-league outfielder Glenallen Hill? He admitted to Mitchell that he bought the stuff, but claimed he never used it. Right. Instead, he turned his Chihuahua into a St. Bernard.

    Some of this stuff will pass simply because the players involved aren't worthy of our attention. But what about the names bigger than the scandal itself? Clemens. Barry Bonds. Rafael Palmeiro. And what about Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, whose names weren't on the list of 86? As if they haven't already been convicted in the court of public opinion after their less-than-stellar performances in front of Congress.

    Do all or none land in the Hall of Fame? Each has all the requisite numbers, all the milestone stats. Trouble is, after Black Thursday, numbers in Major League Baseball aren't what they once were cracked up to be.

    For the record, I've been covering baseball for years and have a Hall of Fame vote. And for the record, I could use a little help. Because I have no idea what to do.

    I don't know which stats are real and which ones were created by Victor Conte and his merry band of mad scientists. I don't know when players started and stopped using the stuff. And even if I did, even if I could be certain that Bonds had Hall of Fame numbers before turning to the dark side, I'm not sure if I should vote for him or keep him out as a means of punishment for disrespecting the game.


    Or take the case of Clemens. His performance in and of itself stamps him as the greatest pitcher of his generation. But now you have to wonder. According to the Mitchell Report, a former trainer was injecting Clemens with juice during his early days with the Blue Jays, one year after the Red Sox gave up on him.

    At that point, when he left Boston, Clemens had 192 victories and three Cy Youngs. Is that a Hall of Famer? We’re talking about a man who won his first Cy Young in 1986 and his last in 2004. Did he have a little, wink-wink, help that enabled him to last so long?

    Throwing the book at these guys needs to be the first step. Now the powers that be need to erect a plaque and hang it prominently inside the walls of the Hall. The plaque needs to name names and acknowledge the alleged cheaters. If so, I could feel better about voting for Bonds and Clemens and McGwire and all the others.

    In lieu of that, I don't know what to do. And I'm not alone. We’re a bunch of sports writers, we members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. We got into this gig because we loved covering games and the people who play them. We'd much rather go have a beer after deadline than stand in judgment of a bunch of ballplayers who lost their way.

    If you’ve got any answers or ideas, I'm all ears. In fact, consider this sentence an official plea to my readers to express their opinions on how to treat these guys when their names appear on the Hall of Fame ballot.

    It's not like I’m out of answers. I never had any in the first place.

    Jim Armstrong is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. Feel free to e-mail him at dontmissjim@aol.com.

    2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
    2007-12-14 12:35:35
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    1 - 10 of 208
    208 comments

    sudduthracing 07:51:26 PM Dec 30 2007

    Report This!

    IF A PLAYER IS LINKED TO, OR USED ROIDS THEY SHOULD NOT BE IN THE HALL OF FAME! ALSO ANY RECORDS THEY SET OR BROKE ( BARRY BONDS) SHOULD BE THROWN OUT, OR DISALLOWED. WHAT THESE PLAYERS DID IS FAR MORE WORST THAN WHAT PETE ROSE DID, AND LOOK AT HOW THEY PUNISHED HIM. BOTTOM LINE IS ALL PLAYERS INVOLVED IN THIS SHOULD BE SUSPENDED FROM BASEBALL FOR LIFE!

    fjohn2198 06:02:00 AM Dec 26 2007

    Report This!

    A Steriod wing in the HOF?? Sure, right next to the Booze wing, the Greenie wing, the Cortisone/Ethyl Chloride wing and don't forget... the ******* wing. Those holier-than-thou fans crying for an asterisk should visit THOSE wings first.

    yodergrrr 10:55:34 AM Dec 24 2007

    Report This!

    I think there should be a steroid wing of the Hall where all the users could be placed. Then I think the sportswriters should go back a relook at some of the non-users who had very good stats but suffered in voting in recent years because they didn't make the "milestones". People like Steve Garvey, Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Tommy John, Jack Morris, Orel Hershiser and others should be in even though they didn't make the vaunted 3000/300 plateaus. They were great players who led their teams to victory.

    jogeach 09:19:51 AM Dec 21 2007

    Report This!

    There should be two tests. The first one is by the Sportwrites of America. They should vote based on existing numbers. For any player, voted into the Hall who has been proven to be a user of performance enhancing drugs, there should be a second vote by the living Hall of Famers. After all, they are the ones who are truly dishonored by having the Enhancers standing next to them. Once that vote has been taken and the living legends have made their decision on who should be in and who should not, then the rest of the world needs to let it go. They are either in the hall, or not. By the way, if anyone affiliated with Major League Baseball or the Commissioners office is voted into the Hall at any time from the Roids ERA, their plaques should show a profile only on the plaque for turning their heads for so long. Talk about a lack of responsibility to the game. WOW!

    mcerdan 07:24:41 PM Dec 20 2007

    Report This!

    YOU DO NOT PUT NEGATIVES IN THE HALL OF FAME...THIS IS A PLACE OF HONOR!!!!THEY ARE EITHER ELECTED OR NOT ...IF THEY ARE PUT IN NO MENTION OF STEROIDS SHOULD BE PUT IN...ALSO IT WOULD BE ALRIGHT NOT TO PUT ANY IN>>>>>THEY DO NOT PUT REGGIE JACKSONS STRIKEOUTS OR MICKEY MANTLES...THIS IS A POSITIVE PLACE TO HONOR GREATNESS

    thyneedle 06:06:40 PM Dec 20 2007

    Report This!

    I believe that if these guys were worthy of Hall consideration before the supposed use of said drugs then they deserve to be voted in. I as most of the people that I know that are athletes at some level believe that Steroids or HGH do not make you a Hall of Famer. You either were that good or you are not. Yes, some numbers may be inflated to some degree but those things can not turn a mediocre player into a superstar. They do not promote hand-eye coordination not the ability to spot a 90 MPH fast ball on the outside corner. Did it help some guys through injuries or even prolong their careers or at least make their last few years better then they might of been; sure! But in the end, you either had the talent to be a HOFer or not. Steroids dont make you 'hit a little round ball with a roung bat more squarely'! So get over it already and just vote them in if they deserve it. Most fans that know and have played the game dont really care becasue it didnt make them what they were;

    dwpdlp5 03:54:00 PM Dec 20 2007

    Report This!

    HEY NOW LETS PUT PETE ROSE IN THE HALL OF FRAME WHERE HE BELONGS IF BARRY GOES SO SHOULD PETE

    mdcsfey 06:33:04 PM Dec 19 2007

    Report This!

    Yea what a joke. I don't care who is taking what drugs they are taking. At least they are not out there killing dogs.

    ld55720 11:24:07 AM Dec 19 2007

    Report This!

    Ted Kennedy must be on Steriods, look at the size of his head

    lawman072 11:09:42 AM Dec 19 2007

    Report This!

    Well, I see the race card has been dropped again. The truth is, who does care. In a time when we have health issues, two war fronts, hunger and needy, we care who might be on performance enhancing drugs. Whooppeeee, let's get a life. I'm a Giants Fan and I like Barry, but dang, I'm white. I also like Clemens. I guess that makes me an "Uncle Willy".

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