Steroids belong in the Hall of Fame

The argument has been swung to each extreme concerning steroids and the Hall of Fame in Major League Baseball. Both sides, to an extent, have an argument. "Cheaters never win," well they actually win a lot, I would say a more appropriate saying is, "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying." This argument of tarnishing the game by cheating was semi-valid at the beginning, but as it became apparent that a good amount and even a majority of MLB players were juicing versus just a few, the power of that stance dispelled like a the energy from the stadium after a big time home run turn out to be a warning track power hit.

Baseball, though being America's pastime, has been riddled with controversy since it's inception. Racism and intolerable behavior characterized the diamond for hundreds of years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and even then it wasn't a walk in the park for him or any other black baseball player. Look at the Chicago "Black" Sox or Pete Rose to understand that gambling has left it's own sour mark on the game. Or recently stories of drug and alcohol abuse have ruined the reputation of beloved players and even been a knock on the game.

In my opinion to withhold players like Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens because they participated in someone that was considered cheating is a little absurd.  If you're going to hold back baseball's home run and strike out kings then remove the Babe and Ty Cobb who played in an era of inequality. Make sure one of the game's greatest hitters, Mr. Pete Rose stays away from Cooperstown. Be prepared to say no to some of this generations darlings like Alex Rodriguez.

Steroids will be connected with professional sports, especially MLB forever. We need to quit pretending it never happened and realize that it is regrettably a part of the game. Shame on you for watching on the edge of your seat as Mark McGwire and Slammin' Sammy Sosa raced for the home run title or rooting as Bonds smashed ball after ball into McCovey Cove and now in the aftermath stand up and say they were wrong. The steroid era of baseball is just that, an era of the game. It happened and will never go away.