Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Steroids in Baseball

Why is it such a terrible thing that McGwire and Sosa used steroids when they played baseball? Was it against the rules of Baseball or something? As far as I can remember, steroid use was not banned by Baseball. Gambling was, and Pete Rose was banned from baseball for doing it. But Steroids? Nothing in the rules said you could not use Steroids. Gaylord Perry, who cheated every time he took the mound with his utility belt of sandpaper and vaseline, are in the Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb is in there and he was a documented racist who took pleasure in slicing a second baseman's legs with his sharpened spikes whenever he slid into the base. I've read stories of clubhouses filled with green and red pills in the 70s and 80s and guys using speed all the time. Why isn't there a big outcry over them?

Sure, Steroids is banned now. TODAY. And if you get caught doing steroids TODAY, you should get your punishment. But to keep McGwire out of the Hall of Fame for doing something that was NOT against the rules of baseball is ludicrous and hypocritical. Of course, when you talk about the Baseball Writers of America, the first word that comes to mind is HYPOCRITICAL.

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