Baseball's Hall Of Fame

Since Baseball was invented in the 19th century, athletes have been trying to get an edge on one another. Well before baseball players even knew that performance enhancing drugs existed, many were using corked bats or doctoring the baseball to put more spin or curve on it. Baseball 's hall of fame has been fraught with cheaters and controversial figures, but people have always found a way to look past these faults (cooperstown). However over the past decade, the Baseball Writers Association of America has prevented various baseball players from gaining access into the hall of fame because of the character of the player or performance enhancing drug use.

Baseball’s hall of a fame members are determined by a group of qualified writers from

There is a certain hypocrisy associated with keeping steroid users out of the hall of fame. Cooperstown is littered with divisive figures. Perhaps one of the most notorious is none other than Ty Cobb. Statistically speaking, Cobb was perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, but was infamous for his aggressive behavior, attitude and sharpening his spikes to make sure nobody got in his way on the base paths. Cobb was also well known for hating northerners, Catholics and blacks. In fact, Cobb once slapped a black elevator operator for being “uppity.” When another black man intervened, Cobb pulled out a knife and stabbed him. On another occasion, Cobb once jumped into the stands and beat a man with no hands because a fan was heckling

T.J. Quinn; a writer and former baseball hall of fame voter says “PEDs did change what we saw on the field. A player who used banned drugs did not simply disgrace himself, he altered himself.” There is no shortage of racists and domestic abusers in the Baseball Hall of Fame, however this criteria has not kept anyone out of Cooperstown because it did not happen on the field.

Ironically enough, the argument to keep out the likes of players like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hits a serious roadblock, when we see how many Hall of Famers have admitted to using “greenies” during their career. Hall of famers Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron have all admitted they used amphetamines during their careers (ESPN). Under baseballs current drug testing rules, all three of these beloved figures would have gotten suspended from Major League Baseball for 80 games (NBC).

Major League Baseball did not enact a drug testing system until 2003. Up until this time, Major League Baseball did little to nothing to curb steroid use in their league. Baseball’s hall of fame has many scandalous members, but has almost always found a way to take morality out of the picture. When taking the full history of baseball into account, the steroid era shouldn’t completely diminish the on-field accomplishments of some of the greatest ball players of all