PEDs / Steroid in Sports: Where Do You Stand?

[Roy H.]

It's hilariously ironic that the person who oversaw and benefited the most from the baseball steroid era, Bud Selig, is in the hall of fame.  But the majority of the players who put him there are forever shunned.   Doesn't seem to be much of an issue in baseball.

If it is in the NBA, The star-based officiating dwarfs it as an issue.

Is infamy fame?  If so, the HOF should unabashedly tell the full story of baseball and include its ‘villains’. Consider a ‘Hall of Infamy’ around the corner from Fame busts. Busts for Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Clemens.  None them committed murder and all of them contributed to baseball’s history. The steroid era was a blast. Only time I’ve had interest in baseball since I was a kid.

Each one of Rose, Bonds, Clemens tells an amazing story of spectacularly gifted players with unprecedented achievements, but with a substantial downside.  Would be the most interesting stories in the Hall and would reflect a museum wanting to tell its actual history.

The thing is, the Hall is already full of guys with bad character (Ty Cobb), as well as guys who cheated in various ways (spit balls, scuffed balls, "glue", pine tar, greenies).  Plus, there's no real way to distinguish between who used versus who didn't; you've got guys like Piazza, Pudge Rodriguez, Big Papi and Jeff Bagwell who all seem like likely candidates, but they made it in. 

So yeah, let them all in, and list their accomplishments as well as their alleged blemishes.  And, when I look back in 30 years, my guess is I'll still remember Clemens and Bonds and McGwire and Sosa, without giving a care about some of the "Hall of Famers" they let in because they have to elect somebody.

And, on the subject of "infamy"...  Curt Schilling belongs in the HOF.  He was a legit ace for multiple WS teams.  I don't care that he's a jerk and a conspiracy theorist. 

And, going even further out on a limb...  put Manny in there, too.  That guy was one of the most feared batters in baseball ever.  And, his counting stats are pretty crazy:  .312 avg; career .998 OPS; 555 HRs; 1813 RBIs; 12x All-Star.  I just don't care that he cheated, in an era where if you weren't cheating you weren't trying.

[Moranis]

Baseball's entire history is founded on cheating.  Which makes the hypocrisy of keeping out only 1 kind of cheating stand out so much.

[Kernewek]

It's hilariously ironic that the person who oversaw and benefited the most from the baseball steroid era, Bud Selig, is in the hall of fame.  But the majority of the players who put him there are forever shunned.   Doesn't seem to be much of an issue in baseball.

If it is in the NBA, The star-based officiating dwarfs it as an issue.

Is infamy fame?  If so, the HOF should unabashedly tell the full story of baseball and include its ‘villains’. Consider a ‘Hall of Infamy’ around the corner from Fame busts. Busts for Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Clemens.  None them committed murder and all of them contributed to baseball’s history. The steroid era was a blast. Only time I’ve had interest in baseball since I was a kid.

Each one of Rose, Bonds, Clemens tells an amazing story of spectacularly gifted players with unprecedented achievements, but with a substantial downside.  Would be the most interesting stories in the Hall and would reflect a museum wanting to tell its actual history.

The thing is, the Hall is already full of guys with bad character (Ty Cobb), as well as guys who cheated in various ways (spit balls, scuffed balls, "glue", pine tar, greenies).  Plus, there's no real way to distinguish between who used versus who didn't; you've got guys like Piazza, Pudge Rodriguez, Big Papi and Jeff Bagwell who all seem like likely candidates, but they made it in. 

So yeah, let them all in, and list their accomplishments as well as their alleged blemishes.  And, when I look back in 30 years, my guess is I'll still remember Clemens and Bonds and McGwire and Sosa, without giving a care about some of the "Hall of Famers" they let in because they have to elect somebody.

And, on the subject of "infamy"...  Curt Schilling belongs in the HOF.  He was a legit ace for multiple WS teams.  I don't care that he's a jerk and a conspiracy theorist. 

And, going even further out on a limb...  put Manny in there, too.  That guy was one of the most feared batters in baseball ever.  And, his counting stats are pretty crazy:  .312 avg; career .998 OPS; 555 HRs; 1813 RBIs; 12x All-Star.  I just don't care that he cheated, in an era where if you weren't cheating you weren't trying.

Only one of them got an eponymous Soundgarden song, though.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

There's a lot of hypocrisy in baseball, as I think I stated previously in this thread. McGwire and Sosa basically saved MLB with their 1998 home run race after the disastrous strike of '94, and I'm convinced commissioner Bud Selig (and probably everyone else) knew what was happening with steroids, etc., but they let it go on because it was good for the game, but then threw McGwire and Sosa and other should-be Hall of Famers under the bus when they didn't need them anymore.