Mark McGwire doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Ever

cubfanindy · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:06 pm Post subject: McGuire

Mark McGwire failed to get the needed 75% to get into the Hall of Fame, coming in at a mere 23.5%. This is unfortunate because he still gets to remain on the ballot, as a player only needs 5% of the vote for that. That should probably be raised, but that is a topic for another day.

McGwire probably used steroids. Conseco incriminated him in his book, he was really just freakishly large when he was hitting all of those home runs, and he would not deny in front of Congress that he has ever used steroids. “I am not here to talk about the past” are words that disillusioned a generation of baseball fans. Steroids are illegal. He cheated. He should not be in the Hall of Fame. Allowing cheaters into the Hall of Fame taints the real numbers put up by the greats who played within the rules. I realize the nay-sayers will say that he should be allowed in, as there is no “real proof,” but come on! This is nearly as bad as O.J! Not the crime of course, but in the mountains of circumstantial evidence. This is even worse in that McGwire would not deny using steroids! Hell, the great Tony Gwynn (who did get in, and fully deserves to be), who is in favor of McGwire being in the Hall of Fame, even incriminated him with his quote at the induction ceremony. He claimed that McGwire was made a scapegoat – “You all knew about it," said Gwynn, referring to the media. "The players knew it and the owners knew it. But nobody did anything about it." (from mlb.com)

For one moment though, let’s forget all of the allegations of steroid use. McGwire might not get in even without the probable drug use. Mark McGwire did not hit for high average, ran like a lumbering ox, and was nothing special defensively,
Sound like anyone else? Roger Maris maybe? You won’t find Roger Maris’s plaque in Cooperstown, because it isn’t there. Yes, the former, and only legitimate, home run king, who hit 61 home runs in 1961, and then had that record stand for 37 years, is not in the Hall of Fame. That’s an intriguing benchmark. The only redeeming feature of Maris’s game was his power, much like McGwire, and in the sports writers’ infinite wisdom, Roger Maris is not deserving of enshrinement in Cooperstown.