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Originally Posted by Mike D.
I was referring to the overall "baseball" (maybe the "royal" baseball?) - players, owners, sportswriters, and even us fans all deserve some of the blame.
We all know that at that time, the players and owners had a really bad relationship - we're talking the era that started with collusion and ended with the strike.
And 1994 was already too late...fans at Fenway Park were chanting "ster-oids" every time Canseco came to the plate as far back as '88...so I'm thinking maybe '85 or '86 when folks in the game "knew"?
But anyway, my point was really that it's too bad that it's come to this...discussions of HR shifts, back-nee, and the like is just....not as fun as a HOF discussions SHOULD be, ya know?
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The problem is that everything had to be negotiated and there was such a poor relationship between owners and players, as you stated, that getting agreement on steroids was pretty much impossible until the majority of players realized the problem. Baseball's drug policy agreed to in the 70s only covered illegal drugs. The NFL didn't even start testing until 1987 and steroids. Do anything before that was never happening.
The next agreement after that was 1990 and at that point Congress hadn't acted on steroids, so they weren't illegal under Baseball's drug policy. Getting the players to accept an expansion of drug policy while dealing with collusion just wasn't going to happen.
In 1994-95, the next contract, owners knew steroids were now covered under drug policy and illegal so they asked for testing but the players refused. Without testing it was going to take a player getting caught and arrested, maybe convicted for MLB to suspend a player.
I agree, the HoF discussions based on the on field performance are much more fun. How much should modern analytics count vs. more old school methods. Modern analysis says Yadi Molina isn't a HOFer, but some feel he is 1st ballot because his defense isn't captured by advanced metrics. Guys with shorter careers with high peaks vs. guys with longevity but low peaks, etc.