"most of them did it some were cought some werent, the coaches, owners and MLB didnt care.".
EK, this is where you and a lot of other people are wrong.
Back then, (1991) the Commissioner knew things were going on and even had rules in place that banned steroids and PEDs. The problem was, the Players Association DID NOT want those rules, accept those rules or have their players vote on those rules. Why, because the players KNEW if they performed better that they would get paid more. So why would they vote against their own self interest?
So, the players didn't want to vote for banning steroids and other PEDs and to implement testing. On the other side, the owners didn't want to make a fuss about steroids because they KNEW the players didn't want testing and would probably go on strike if such a ban and testing were put in place. So, to keep the peace, the owners went along with the players.
So, in my opinion, ANY player who took steroids shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame and that is because they have already been rewarded with higher pay than they should have gotten and maybe even a longer life in baseball. For those who say that steroids didn't help everybody. I say false.
That is because compensation for Free Agents and for Salary Arbitration went up and THOSE numbers are based on the performance of your peers. So, for instance, if a player like Barry Bonds uses and gets paid more then people who perform just below his level will get a pay raise when they are Free Agents. Or, if a young guy puts up numbers like somebody just below Bonds then the agent for that player will submit his salary request to the Arbitrators and will use the stats of the other player/s as comparables and put in a high number for his salary request.
Nope, if I were in charge of MLB, I would consider EVERYBODY who played from 1991 (when Fay Vincent wrote the seven page set of rules) to 2004 (when the actual rules, testing and penalties were finally adopted) guilty and I would BAN THEM ALL. When I say ban, I mean not only from the Hall of Fame but also from ANY job in MLB or the Minors. I would also make them have to get special permission to even show up at a Major League stadium (like Pete Rose does now).
After I did this, I would say the ONLY way they would be allowed back in is if they submit to not only lie detector tests but actual brain scans. This way, if a person were lying about taking steroids or PEDs (I think a lot of guys would) then even if they passed a lie detector test (sociopaths often can) they probably couldn't pass a brain scan.
Brain scans have been able to show changes in a persons brain when they are lying even if the lie detector test doesn't. By doing this, we could weed out the people lying from those telling the truth and get a better idea of who put up numbers they wouldn't otherwise have if they hadn't used steroids.
Now, I know some guys who have a lot of money and/or who are sociopaths wont take the tests and wont care if they are banned. But a LOT of other former players will want to take these tests. A) because they either want to show they were clean and they don't want their names to be forever darkened with the idea that they MIGHT have used or B) because they actually want to get into the HOF or they actually want to work in MLB and be around the teams and players.
By doing this, a lot of guesswork would be taken out of who did and didn't cheat. Then the writers would have an easier time of deciding who deserves to be in the HOF and who doesn't and they can have a foot to stand on, at least for arguments sake, if they vote for a guy who admitted to using steroids.
David
|