Next summer, when the Baseball Hall of Fame commemorates its players in Cooperstown, NY, and players are inducted into the Hall of Fame, there will be quite a few who have either been linked to steroids or have actually tested positive. These players are Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and the infamous Rafael Palmeiro who pointed his finger while being asked questions by Congress members on Capitol Hill, only to test positive for a performance enhancing drug months later.
“I used to love the Sosas and Bonds but now I hate them,” says Hector Ortiz, 32, a resident of the Bronx. “They should not be in the Hall of Fame and I hope they all never make it in for lying to us fans.”
Why not let these players in? They have contributed in major ways to the sport of baseball. The amount of fans not only increased and was at its peak during this period of steroid use, but a tremendous amount of money was also generated whether through jersey sales, or autographed merchandise that the fans brought for each of their respected teams.
I’m sure other players have either done drugs before these guys, so why single them out?
Paul Molitor and Ferguson Jenkins, who were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in previous years, were busted in the 1980s for using cocaine. They were first ballot Hall of Famers, so obviously the offense was overlooked.
We all know that people are willing to do whatever it takes to reach the top of the pedestal and be the greatest.
And since the dawn of baseball, players have used whatever substances they believed would help them perform better, heal faster, or relax during a long and stressful season. Zev Chafets, a contributor at the New York Times, writes that as far back as 1889, pitcher Pud Galvin ingested monkey testosterone, and during Prohibition, Grover Cleveland Alexander, also a pitcher, calmed his nerves with federally banned alcohol, and no less an expert than Bill Veeck, who owned several major-league teams, said that Alexander was a better pitcher drunk than sober.
Mickey Mantle developed a sudden abscess on his left hip, that kept him on the bench in 1961, and even caused him to be hospitalized, during his home run race with Roger Maris. Where did the abscess come from? In his book “Cooperstown Confidential,” Chafets writes that the abscess came from an infected needle used by Max Jacobson, known as Dr. Feelgood, a fraud who injected Mantle with a home-made brew containing steroids and speed.
Hank Aaron once admitted to taking an amphetamine tablet during a game. Amphetamines are used as a performance and cognitive enhancer. It also induces physical effects such as decreased reaction time, fatigue resistance, and increased muscle strength. Willie Mays was accused of keeping something called “red juice” by former teammate John Milner in his locker. What was this “red juice?” It was a liquid form of speed. Sandy Koufax admitted that he was often “half high” on the mound from the drugs he took for his ailing left arm.
That is a list of a few great players who have widely been known as guys who changed the sport of baseball, and who are credited with being among the all-time greats who have had negative gossip around their careers, but it is rarely brought up.
Why? Could the voters who select the Hall of Famers be so hell-bent on getting the steroids and their history out of the game? Or do these voters have their own agenda because they were all seemingly lied to? No one can know for sure, but the conclusion that can be drawn is that baseball is full of heroes, and it is also full of bad guys. These voters are probably voting in the players whom they viewed as heroes. Seems a little biased to me.
The voters should allow players such as Sosa, Bonds, Clemens, and McGwire into the Hall of Fame. They did change the way the sport was viewed throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
It was actually an enjoyable sport to watch. Players were hitting balls 500-plus feet almost every time. Pitchers were at their best during this time period as well.
Give these players that have been accused or tested positive and have the numbers to get into the Hall of Fame their rightful spot. Just designate it as the “Steroid Era” and put asterisks next to each stat and each name that corresponds to it. For goodness’ sake, paint the room black and dim the lights if you have to, but do not erase these guys from history.
We now realize that it was a dark time, but we should remember what happened and move on.
joshcolon 