Should a baseball player who used performance enhancing drugs to increase production in his career be admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? This includes Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and any other player caught using PEDs. Do these players deserve Hall of Fame status even though they had an unfair advantage? Many say "No!" seeing that their stats were padded. Critics against the idea of these players making the hall of fame argue that cheaters of any sport should be penalized harshly and the Baseball Hall of Fame will be more honorable without them.
When a baseball player uses performance enhancing drugs he seizes an unfair advantage over other players in his time as well as players from previous eras. As a result, these players are capable of accomplishing feats never before imagined in the history of Major League Baseball. Many players in recent history have chosen to take the PED route and they have tarnished legitimate hard-earned records because of it. It's a disgrace to Major League Baseball, plain and simple. PED cheaters should never be mentioned among Hall of Fame electors like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron who accomplished everything in their career through pure talent, skills, and a hard work ethic.
One must realize that these drug cheats were only so incredible because they used steroids and performance enhancing drugs. PED cheaters would not be as incredible as their padded stat sheets show them to be had it not been for the shortcuts they chose to take. What about the true players of the game who played the game fair and square? Honorable men who took the high road were given a role in the shadows. They were never given the opportunity to shine. MLBs clean players of the modern era were never truly given the spotlight in MLB games, practice, recruiting, endorsements, or the media. It is unfair to continue to keep that spotlight away from baseball's honorable mentions.
Let us examine baseball's steroid policy, it's a joke. Baseball's conviction for use of prohibited substances, first offense: 15 to 30 day suspension and/or a fine of up to $10,000. In other sports there are much harsher penalties for athletes who are caught using steroids. Not long ago, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his 7 tour titles, his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics, and all his other titles, money, and awards from 1998 onward all for being accused of using steroids. Pretty harsh don't you think? Marion Jones gave back the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics and agreed to forfeit all other results dating back to Sept. 1, 2000, admitting that she was a drug cheat. Is a 30 day suspension really that ghastly when compared to other International sports? No. Prohibition from the Hall of Fame would be an equal and fair punishment for Major League Baseball players.
Some baseball fans may contend that so many players used steroids in baseball's recent era that there are too many players the Hall of Fame will have to overlook. However, being overlooked only applies for players who have been caught using PEDs. Other players who had only been accused would continue to be eligible. To expand on the issue, it does not matter if every player did it. Every drug cheat should be penalized to the highest extent by their respective sports. Any candidate to be inducted to the Hall of Fame should be judged by their dedication to the game and their hard work against all odds. No one who took a shortcut should be honored among the greats.
At the end of the day, whether you like them or not they went against the rules of baseball. Some of these players have great stories and are very likable but this should not bypass their accordance to the rules of the game that made them who they are. The only way baseball will deter future cheats is by being strict with their discipline and sticking to it.
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