Should Steroids Keep Big Mac Out of the Hall of Fame? (1~13~09)

I am beyond thrilled to see that Rickey Henderson is going in the Hall of Fame. Not like I didn't think it would happen but when it does happen it feels so darn good! He is one of those guys that everyone knows how great he was no matter if you liked the Oakland A's or not. He also has the numbers to show for it. I will say I did like what Jim Rice said about being there for the team and you can be all about yourself and go out there on the field and care more about your stats but you have to care about the team and in certain situations it's best not to try to hit the long ball. He also discussed attitude towards the media, my personal opinion sports writers and media in general need to either grow a pair or at least get some thicker skin.


Now to the purpose of this blog(gette). In my other post regarding steroids I said it should be a wash for the older players assumed to have done steroids. I think my choice of words may not get my opinion across in the most accurate way. I think it should still be known that they may have done something that enhanced their abilities but of all the things I have read about steroids I don't believe it can make a so-so player GREAT! In the end these guys hurt themselves. We fans might take it somewhat personally but are they hurting you? Some people talk about wasting money on going to the games or what the Bash Brothers did has lost it's appeal because apparently both Canseco and McGwire were using steroids. But did we all enjoy going to those games? Didn't we enjoy seeing Big Mac and Canseco hit the long ball? This is a game that I love and I love competition but in the end were we entertained? If you were I don't see how any money or time was wasted. And we still don't know exactly what McGwire did. Some reports say what he did was really minimal and he may just have had bad legal advise and others say it really doesn't matter either way. I think it's a shame that he literally seems to be in hiding after all of this. While I can't blame Canseco for what he did it's just a shame that some of these ball players are going through what they are and being ridiculed. For instance F.P. Santangelo was on the list of players that used steroids and he was on 1140 AM here in Sacramento and I loved listening to him but he has since been fired. The station apparently is claiming low ratings, but he was the best guy on the show! I remember when he admitted to what he did and callers were putting him throught he ringer. It was really sad. But look at that list how many of those guys were GREAT ball players? Not that many. How many of us have had to take some form of steroids when we have been injured? And how can we punish these guys for something that wasn't illegal?


I'm not a numbers person but for those of you who would probably turn away and look it up yourselves here are McGwires career numbers. (Source:http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/ historical/player_locator_results.jsp)

Career Totals:

Hitting

G: 1874

AB: 6187

R: 1167

H: 1626

2B: 252

3B: 6

HR: 583

RBI: 1414

BB: 1317

OBP: .394

SLG: .588

AVG: .263

Fielding

FPCT: .993

I don't think his numbers are so outrageous. When people talk about steroids they make it sound as though every ball hit was a homerun. I feel McGwire's numbers are good enough for the hall of fame and he brought a lot to the game and to us fans. I truly don't believe there is evidence that he had some huge advnatage. I don't understand why these "writers" are wanting to shame him for something we don't know much about and for something that was not illegal. Players are constantly doing what they can to give them more of an edge. Steroids are bad primarily because of all the side effects they do have. Come on guys your testosterone levels drop like crazy, if anything the fear of being a girly man or in my terms girly dude would stop you.


To conclude and end my rambling, steroids hurts the individiual way more than it has hurt the game of Baseball or us fans. To say steroids is what made some of these players great I think shows a lack of knowledge. There is an advantage in regards to the healing process when an injury does occur and maybe with stamina but is that really that bad? I think the media has contributed greatly in making us think that this is the worst thing to happen in sports. I still say I enjoyed watching these guys and if they had the numbers to say they were great then they were great end of story.

Side note: I'm just sitting back waiting what the NFL does with Michael Vick. From what I can see steroids in baseball is mild in comparison. Granted what Vick did has no direct affect on the game but would you rather have your children look up to a guy like, lets say Jason Giambi who may have done steroids but admitted to his wrong doings or a guy like Vick who had no regards for life.