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Originally Posted by BobC
Interesting question. Though I have no idea myself, and am not going to hazard a guess, I've always thought Mark McGwire may likely be the first baseball player who, though never formally suspended for steroid use by MLB, had admitted to using what were at one time legal, over-the-counter supplements/steroids that were later banned. He seemed to be one of those that was somewhat honest and forthright when asked, does not have a bad history with baseball writers and others in the sport, and was well enough liked and respected to have also spent over a decade as an MLB coach after retiring as a player, primarily as a hitting coach, for various MLB teams as well.
When he first came up to the majors, McGwire was ROY and led MLB in HRs, and supposedly didn't start with the supplements/steroids till a couple years or so after his rookie season. And based on the notions/beliefs of many that during these times upwards of half, or more, of all MLB players were taking some form of steroids or supplements, at some point one has to think that maybe it will not be held so much against the better players of this specific time period who have HOF aspirations, as they were acting like most every other MLB player was at the time, but still exceedingly much better than the rest of them. Whether as fans and onlookers who hated/accepted it or not, steroid use was prevalent in MLB, and MLB choose to look the other way for quite a long time. It comes across as almost a retroactive punishment for something that originally wasn't considered wrong. So after a period of time, I can eventually see some acceptance of these steroid era superstars, however begrudgingly, and have always thought McGwire may be the one to lead the way to HOF induction due to his overall acceptance and likability with everyone out there. Time will tell.
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I guess some would argue that Ortiz tested positive and was voted in, but there is some uncertainty about his test since it was part of the initial survey testing. I thought about including guys that never had a positive test or suspension in the poll, but I decided not to since I have read comments from a lot of writers who vote and distinguish between before and after the start of testing for how they decide who they will vote for. McGwire, Clemens, Bonds and Sosa are all in the pre-testing group but who most are pretty sure were using PEDs. Then there are the guys who are already in that people are suspicious of like Piazza, Bagwell and Pudge.
I don't think anyone currently on the ballot that has a positive test gets voted in by the writers but I do think Tatis has a chance if he puts up a great career and doesn't get suspended again so that's who I voted for.