Steroids and Major League Baseball

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The 2010 Hall of Fame voting is over and Andre Dawson was the only player that received enough votes to be elected to the Hall. This story is about who was not elected and what I feel is why. Mark McGwire only received 23% of the votes needed. Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds along a number of former players on the available list will be under the same cloud as to whether these players will be elected to the Hall of Fame.

So that is the question as to whether or not steroid use should impact a player's election to the Hall of Fame. Along that same thought line is an even greyer area. What about the records that were made for some of the players using steroids? Single season home run records and other records are an issue here and I am wondering what fans think. Steroids played a role in the player's performance. Whether they gained strength or aided the recovery or lessened the severity of injuries steroids enhanced performance.

Players now and in the future will be faced with reaching for records that may be out of reach. Records that were broken may not have been. The issue is not going away. Fans, players, writers and management all have an opinion. They all don't agree but at the same time all do. Steroids should never have happened and all agree that the steroid era has ended.

But what now? Will the league just let the dust settle and move on? Addressing the issue will have its consequences. The players and I am sure the union will have a problem if players in question are dealt with in a negative manner. Baseball was slow in addressing the problem and closing the barn door after the horse has left doesn't change what has happened. But at least steroid use is tested for and violations are severe. Ask Manny Ramirez.

There is debate if any of this really matters. I am sure there were reasons. The home run race between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa was good for baseball. Fans loved it. Baseballs were flying out of stadiums through out the league. Attendance was the best in years. So what is best to do? Nothing?

There is an area that I think will show fallout. The baseball writers are showing that election to the Hall of Fame will reflect if a player used steroids. Time will tell as to how long this perception that the body voting on Hall of Fame candidates will hold their vote on these players. Will it make a difference if they come clean on using steroids? Or will time heal the wounds?

There is enough blame to go around on how steroids hurt the game. The players, the clubs and the commissioner's office all own a part of it. And you might even say the fans also. If enough outrage had been made would it have made a difference?

Footballshirt Blog SHOW SPUR