[satfrat]

Mark McGwire finally admits that he was taking steriods when he broke the home run record in 1998. Read the whole breaking news here.
 
How does that make you feel? Should he now be allowed into the Hall of Fame? Afterall, he's not alone in the steroid era but he did excell over all the other "juicers". If he's not recognised, why should any ballplayer who "juiced" be allowed in? This is gonna open up a big can of worms as the years go by as to who will actually qualify to the Hall. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[thunderbrick]

If the "juicers" hadn't danced around the truth for so long it would have blown over a long time ago.  Although it is kinda funny to see all those congressmen with fake hair looking down their noses at the ballplayers*.  I wonder if they think a rug or hairpiece is a "performance-enhancing device."   

I wonder how McQwire will be treated when he comes back to work in STL?  He hasn't been back since he retired, AFAIK.

*Note to moderator: That is a statement of irony, not politics.  I'll gladly pull it down if it is considered political.

brick

[zybar]

McGwire (and all players from this era) either belong in the HOF or they don't... based on what they produced - period. 

We are never going to know the true extent to which steroids were used throughout the sport, so I am not going to penalize individuals when it was clearly a large scale issue across baseball.

If I had a vote Mark, would be in the HOF. 

Of course, so would many other players (Bert Blyleven, Robbie Alomar, Tim Raines, Billy Martin, to just name a few).

George

[zybar]

If the "juicers" hadn't danced around the truth for so long it would have blown over a long time ago.  Although it is kinda funny to see all those congressmen with fake hair looking down their noses at the ballplayers*.  I wonder if they think a rug or hairpiece is a "performance-enhancing device."   

I wonder how McQwire will be treated when he comes back to work in STL?  He hasn't been back since he retired, AFAIK.

*Note to moderator: That is a statement of irony, not politics.  I'll gladly pull it down if it is considered political.

brick

McGwire will be cheered and welcomed back with open arms by St. Louis fans.

George

[jackman]

Mark McGwire finally admits that he was taking steriods when he broke the home run record in 1998. Read the whole breaking news here.
 
How does that make you feel? Should he now be allowed into the Hall of Fame? Afterall, he's not alone in the steroid era but he did excell over all the other "juicers". If he's not recognised, why should any ballplayer who "juiced" be allowed in? This is gonna open up a big can of worms as the years go by as to who will actually qualify to the Hall. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

Hey, great minds think alike.  I admire Mark for coming forward but have a hard time recognising anyone from this "juice" era for the hall.  At least McGuire gets props for coming "clean" on this one.  Maybe Clemens, A-Rod, Bonds, Manny and Sosa will follow suite.  It's tough because batters and pitchers were juiced during this era and MLB and the players union all turned a blind eye because everyone was getting rich. 

This is a tough one but, at the moment, I don't want to see any of these guys have the honor of being elected into the hall.  Maybe that will change over time, but it's too soon for me.

[thunderbrick]

Agreed, Jackman, well said!  'Though I hardly consider McQwire coming clean after all these years of silence.  Should have been done a LONG time ago.

[golfugh]

I appreciate the fact he admitted use, although he might have well had in his Congressional testimony.

Here's my vote - HOF!!!

How can anyone know who was and who wasn't on steroids over an extended period.  Steroids were prevalent in the late 60's, 70's, and 80's; yet no one prevented anyone from the that era from entering the HOF.  Steroids didn't magically come into use during McGwire's era - they were in use long before.

[TheChairGuy]

He should be tarred and feathered - along with the other cheats.

No Hall of Fame and his baseball pension should be revoked by the MLBPA

He earned $$millions while juiced and (knowingly) cheating...he should not be compensated for this in his retirement. He's a thief and should be treated as such.

John

[satfrat]

McGwire (and all players from this era) either belong in the HOF or they don't, based on what they produced - period. 

We are never going to know the true extent to which steroids were used throughout the sport, so I am not going to penalize individuals when it was clearly a large scale issue across baseball.

If I had a vote Mark, would be in the HOF. 

Of course, so would many other players (Bert Blyleven, Robbie Alomar, Tim Raines, Billy Martin, to just name a few).

George

I agree George, if for no other reason than it was Baseball itself who turned a closed eye on the problem for so many years instead of addressing it early on. Why fault all the players in that era when they were competing against each other for jobs in baseball under the climate that was presented to them? In my eyes, it's more on baseball itself than the players for not addressing the steroid issue early on and hard.
 
Now when will Roger Clemens come out? 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[thunderbrick]

Clemens is gay?   

I think there is a lot to be said for the fact that baseball, and by connection, the players' union, stuck their collective heads in the sand, but once it was banned, it should have stopped.  Period.  Both parties only made a half-assed effort at cleaning the mess up, if they even tried at all.

[golfugh]

It's not just baseball folks!

[satfrat]

Clemens is gay?   

Yea and so is his wife. They both are very gay & happy people. 

[zybar]

He should be tarred and feathered - along with the other cheats.

No Hall of Fame and his baseball pension should be revoked by the MLBPA

He earned $$millions while juiced and (knowingly) cheating...he should not be compensated for this in his retirement. He's a thief and should be treated as such.

John

What about all the other cheats who are in the HOF John?

Why the hostility?

George

[golfugh]

^^^

+1

[thunderbrick]

Yea and so is his wife. They both are very gay & happy people. 

If I had his money I'd be happy, too.     

If we REALLY want to judge them, let's do a survey of pro athletes and see if any of them have a really good audio system. If they don't they should be tarred and feathered for really lousy post-career judgement.  After all, even House (a junkie if there ever was one) gains social acceptance based on the mere fact that he has a turntable in his office.   

[pjchappy]

Wasn't speed very common in baseball in the '60s, '70s (and '80s?).  Most used it just b/c of the rigors of travel, game, travel, game, to simply help keep going. . . but a little speed would help performance, too.

[golfugh]

Speed was prevalent, steroids was prevalent from the 60's through the 90's in all sports.  HGH not so much, but Lyle Alzado admitted using some form of HGH in the 70's.

I saw all of these used in college sports (not just MLB, NFL, etc.) in the late 70's/early 80's.

So don't think there aren't folks in the HOF for any major league sport who weren't juiced at some point.

Off my soap box.

PS:  NO I didn't do steroids

[Bigfish]

Guys:

To me it is just sad!  Like others have stated many in professional sports took performance enhancing drugs.  If there were any pros that did not take them then it certainly lessons the accomplishments of McGwire and the others that did.  I don't have to decide if McGwire belongs in the HOF and I am glad I don't because I don't know if I could answer the question:  Would he have been a HOF Player without the performance enhancing drugs?

Ken

[rajacat]

Performance enhancing drugs are as American as apple pie . Perhaps all the college students who have used speed or other smart pills should be denied their diplomas. 

 Hippocracy is prevalent too; a regular plague. I bet that most of the moralists wouldn't have to look too far into their past or present to find that they've used mother's little helpers or some form of consciousness enhancers to change their state of mind. That said I think that steroids and other dangerous supplements should be banned from pro and college sports. Maybe there shouldn't be a Hall of Fame or rather it should just be for saints.

-Roy

[TheChairGuy]

George/zybar,

They ALL should be barred from the HOF and pensions revoked. No different than my response to Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Antonio Pettigrew, Floyd Landis and others in Track & Field, Bicycling or any other sport that were caught.

They're cheats and we all paid $$ to see them hit the long ball or run or throw faster....and need to be denied forgiveness for this cheating.

I was offered 'juice' by the Powerlifting team manager at Villanova in 1981/82 while lifting in the weight room (I declined...you can believe that or not ).  Steroids have been a not-so-well known secret at the MLB level for years before that.   It's been tolerated for too long - it needs to stop.

I don't expect to get away with cheating if I do it - whether it's on my taxes or my wife - neither should they

John