McGwire: Hall of Fame or Bust?

In a world that tore apart Pete Rose, then declined him for Hall of Fame nomination (even after he apologized), we look at the next big fish.  Perhaps the most marketable Cardinal of all time in First Baseman Mark McGwire.  Did he take steroids?  Did he not take steroids?  Well I'm here to say it now, I will defend Mark McGwire until the very end.  I don't think he did anything wrong honestly.

I mean, so far you busted one of the biggest pitchers in the game in Clements.  You have the Home Run leader in Barry Bonds, who is getting ready to face a perjury charge in federal court.  But you have to admire McGwire, he never claimed he didn't do it, he never said he did either.  He did what the American Government allows him to do.  He plead the 5th.  He spared so many fans feelings, yet he covered his own backside.  And everyone wants his head.  Look I'm not saying taking steroids is right, and I'm not saying that pleading the 5th is always the best thing.  But it is your right as an American Citizen to not incriminate yourself.  Plain and simple.  Yeah he probably should of came out and said either "Yes I did it and I'm sorry." or "No, I have never to my knowledge have taken a banned substance of Major League Baseball."

But in the real world you don't want to lose those whom supported you at the same time you don't want to piss off the government.  Sorry if that was unprofessional, but its true.  McGwire was the face of the MLB for the longest time.  I mean he at one point hit more homeruns in one year then any other player in history.  And let's forget about homeruns for a minute, how many times has this guy been a consistant fielder day in and day out.  He was a multiple time all star, and he had 1400 RBIs to go with his 583 homers.

So is that not good enough?  Pete Rose not getting in the Hall of Fame was a trajesty.  If you leave out McGwire, Rose, Clements, Bonds, and Rodriguez, you might as well erase the years of 1986-2005.  Honestly I think the writers should just suck it up.  I mean they weren't out on the field for 182+ games a year, they didn't have to deal with the injuries that a lot of these guys did.  So if the writers that vote ever read this, get your head out of the clouds.  I'm willing to bet that 4/10th of the players in the league at that time were on steroids.

All the other leagues have dealt with steroid usage, now its time for baseball to man up and move on.  It happened, so lets live with it.  No need for an * to be by any record.  Because trust me, I'm sure they will find something way more advanced to use next decade.  Then we get to go through this whole process of this again.

Oh, and Congress.  We are fighting two wars, and we are in a recession, maybe you should get your head out of the clouds and focus on the country and not what baseball is doing.  As fans we appreciate this.

 Until next time loyal readers.

Seth Luttrell