HOF ballot coming up

[barrysloate]

Bonds should be in, and so should Clemens. I know they cheated, but in our society, so does pretty much everyone else. Bankers cheat. Wall Street cheats. Politicians cheat. Autograph forgers cheat. Everybody cheats, it's the American way. Let them in and move on.

[Runscott]

Yeah, it's letting their 'numbers' in that bugs me the most. On the other hand, we had a 'dead ball' era and a 'live ball' era, between which number comparisons were practically meaningless. Same within the dead ball era whenever there were major rule changes. So perhaps we just get used to the 'steroid era' and don't worry about making comparisons of stats.

I'm sure there will be someone who creates a modified record book that removes anything done by steroid users.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Bonds should be in, and so should Clemens. I know they cheated, but in our society, so does pretty much everyone else. Bankers cheat. Wall Street cheats. Politicians cheat. Autograph forgers cheat. Everybody cheats, it's the American way. Let them in and move on.

Barry - It's not the American way, it's the way of American cheaters. I hope your comment was tongue-in-cheek. I would hate to see a take home message for our kids of "Don't cheat, but if you do and you can get away with it, that's fine."

[HRBAKER]

When the "cheaters" start trickling in it will be interesting to see how they are received and treated by the old guard at the Hall.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Even if you take too much caffeine, that is considered performance enhancing. I believe the Olympic committee is very strict on that, which I find absurd

[drc]

A line for me for performance enhancing items is whether or not they are legal.

Caffeine isn't illegal and cocaine isn't performance enhancing.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by drc

A line for me for performance enhancing items is whether or not they are legal.

Caffeine isn't illegal and cocaine isn't performance enhancing.

coke ehances your performance no doubt

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Barry - It's not the American way, it's the way of American cheaters. I hope your comment was tongue-in-cheek. I would hate to see a take home message for our kids of "Don't cheat, but if you do and you can get away with it, that's fine."

Not tongue in cheek, but cynical. All I see around me are people cheating, in every walk of life. Yes, I absolutely deplore it. But to deny a player into the HOF because he took a drug that built up his muscles is plainly hypocritical. Bonds was the greatest hitter I ever saw, possibly one of the top five all time. Clemens was one of the greatest pitchers of all time. To deny them entrance, but to allow a less than stellar Bobby Doerr in, is a mockery of the whole process.

Gaylord Perry pitched nearly his whole career with a dab of vaseline under his cap. It's against the rules to put a foreign substance on a ball, and nearly every pitch he threw was a greaseball. He's in the Hall. And his stats don't hold a candle to Clemens.

Let's stop pretending baseball is some lily white enterprise and let these guys in. If you want you can affix a scarlet letter "C" for "cheater"on their plaques. That way the fans can tell the good guys from the bad guys.