Here is what the Hall of Fame ballot says when it arrives in the mail: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”
That’s it.
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I've been saying that for 10 years.
So, anything goes, right ?
Well, I agree it may be quite difficult to determine who CHEATED and who didn't. But why be bothered with that? As for you assertions about players in the 50s doing amphetamines, well, I find that a bit of a weak argument for passing guys like Bonds and Clemens into the Hall. But, if that is your reasoning, then shoeless Joe and the rest of the so-called "black Sox" should be in the Hall too. After all, if you are going to dilute the qualifications (integrity, sportsmanship come to mind here), then why not just throw out all such considerations and make it only about stats? That would make it easy for you. And lets not forget Pete Rose...after all..he just gambled on the sport. Its a slippery slope once you give up on the hard work of morality and ethics......not to mention good sportsmanship and INTEGRITY. The problem with these guys who most of us know did do PEDs is that they sold out their integrity for their own personal gain. While others didn't. It is about fairness in the end.
To use the argument made in the first half of Christopher Gaspars column is acceptable. Your position is awful. you're side-stepping any moral issue. By your standards the Palmeiros, the Maguires et al should all be admitted. That's just plain awful.
All you have to do is change the plaque locations in the Hall itself. As it is now, with some players being voted in immediately when eligible while others decades after they finished their careers, the plaques are all over the place in the Hall. You can barely find anyone. Most baseball fans know when the steroid era was. If the plaques were in order, they can see who played in the what era and judge themselves. Then it's a case of just who gets voted in. I never thought Palmeiro and even McGwire were HOF players even without knowing they used steroids. Bonds and Clemens sure. In the end though, who really cares. Love the game, don't idolize the players.