Why Mark McGwire shouldn't be in the Hall...

So, you're not going to be voting for Mark McGwire because of what he may or may not have done. That's fantastic. I understand that you said if more information comes out you're less inclined to vote for him. This is great, if sloppy reasoning is a great reason to keep someone out of the Hall of Fame.

Some Hall of Fame voters are talking about not voting for Mark McGwire due to the revelations in Jose Canseco’s new book. There seems to be two main points why they are saying he shouldn’t be in the Hall: He’s a cheater and cheaters should not be enshrined and what he did was illegal and wrong (which is similar to the first argument but its still being said in a different context).

In the following, I will present arguments to refute the claims put forward by these sportswriters. For full disclosure, I should mention that I am a huge Mark McGwire fan, I adopted the number 25 as my own number because of him and I have contemplated naming my first child Mcgwire. All that being said, here it goes…

1. He’s a cheater and cheaters shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame…

So, you wouldn't have voted for Don Drysdale, Gaylord Perry, Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame? Whether they knew it or not, all of these players bent the rules in their favor. Drysdale and Perry were known to doctor the ball so well, Drake Ramoray couldn’t bring it back to life. Babe Ruth used a laminated bat, which was, and is, illegal. Ty Cobb was known to sharpen his spikes and go “spikes up” when he went into second base. But apparently, these “cheaters” are good enough for the Hall. We’re just really selective on which “cheaters” are allowed in.

We can't have anyone who had a competitive advantage over anyone else, can we? I believe some Hall of Famers used contacts and glasses to be able to see the ball. If they hadn't used those, they wouldn't be there. Those men sound like “cheaters” to me. Get them out!

What about Tommy John surgery? I believe that anyone who had Tommy John surgery shouldn't be in the Hall, because players of yesteryear may have been better had they had the medicine we have today. Wait, why stop at Tommy John surgery? If anyone had any sort of medical procedure that was unavailable to players at the turn of the century, they shouldn't be allowed in. Yes, that should be one of the prerequisites for the Hall.

So, the Hall is filled with “cheaters” and people who used “modern medicine” to improve their ability to play baseball. What makes them different from Mr. McGwire? It doesn’t make any sense.

2. What he did was illegal and wrong…

Now, let's take it a step further. Even though there were no rules against steroids at the time in MLB (before you bring US regulations in this, there are plenty of "laws" that are broken everyday by everyone, so that's not an accurate argument. If you’re saying someone who gets a speeding ticket shouldn’t be admitted to the Hall, you’re an idiot, but at least you’re a consistent idiot) we're going to hang him for this?

Play along for a second; let's say they make wearing batting gloves illegal this year, because it offers the batter too much advantage. Now, everyone who has ever worn a batting glove, though it was perfectly legal at the time, has all their records banned, because of what is illegal now. Does that make sense to you? That's essentially the argument you're making!

It's like on the episode of the Simpson's with Stampy, Bart's elephant. The prices were originally $1 to see the elephant and $2 to ride it. Then, Homer jacked up the prices to $100 to see it and $200 to ride it, when he found he couldn't afford to feed it.

Homer: Uh, Milhouse saw the elephant twice and rode him once, right?
Mrs. Van Houten: Yes, but we paid you $4.
Homer: Well, that was under our old price structure. Under our new price structure, your bill comes to a total of $700. Now, you've already paid me $4, so that's just $696 more that you owe me.
Mr. Van Houten: Get off our property.

Does that argument make sense to you? Are you the Homer Simpson of sportswriters on this issue? I hope not.

Because McGwire has garnered our respect and deserves to be enshrined in the Hall, regardless of his "cheating". Even if he did do steroids, they were not illegal and, even if they were, the Hall is filled with "cheaters". I don’t see any harm in adding one more, who redefined the game and saved it from the disgrace it became after the strike.