There's No Crying in Baseball, But There is Cheating

When you think of baseball you think of America’s favorite past time. You think about the good moments in the games history you think of Babe Ruth hitting home runs, Ted Williams and his incredible hitting percentage, you think of all the great pitchers that played the game Cy Young, Lefty Grove, Smokey Joe Wood and plenty more after them. You think about the great Hall of Fame players that made the game what it is today. But there is also a darker side to the game that has been darkened my scandals through out the history with players cheating.

This darker side of the game coming back in to the limelight of the media recently with Mark McGwire the second place all time single season home run leader with 70 home runs admitted that he was a user of steroids during his career at Oakland and St. Louis and during the 1998 season. Now I know to most people this is no news but he is also up for a spot in the Hall of Fame for the second time being on the ballot he is way below the number that he needs to enter the Hall. There are people asking should he be allowed in even though he cheated the game and my answer is yes. You ask why I say yes, for one if not for that great home run race between in 1998 between McGwire and Sammy Sosa the following of the game would not be the same that it is today. Interest in baseball was not at the high point that it is today before this because of the strike near the end of the 1994 season people had lost interest in the game of baseball, so for that I thank those guys for that race. But even if had not used performance enhancing drugs they do not increase the likely hood of you hitting a ball, now I’m not saying it won’t help you hit it farther yes I know that the power adders allows you to spring the bat easier and hit the ball farther. With that being said just imagine what his on-base percentage would have been because he was a solid hitter. He hit 49 home runs as a rookie. I just feel with his ability to hit the ball the way he did and the way he saved the game we all love so much he should be allowed in to the hall.

But people are going to say the Hall of Fame should be pure and no cheaters should be allowed in to the Hall. Well I agree the Hall should be pure but it isn’t it is already full of players who has cheated the game like Gaylord Perry who won 314 games and became a member of the Hall. How did he get there he got there by throwing spitball pitches and changing the surface of the ball by scuffing or mudding it that was his claim to fame. Now some of you are going to say that was allowed well Perry played in the 60’s and 70’s the spitball was outlawed in the game of baseball in 1920. This made the spitball and illegal pitch to be thrown and should be counted as a ball. You say that is just one example how about Whitey Ford he did the same thing even after the spitball was outlawed. Should these players who cheated be allowed in the Hall? You have Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby one of the greatest players to man the second bag that wrote and article that was titled “You’ve Got to Cheat to Win” were he talks about players doing illegal acts such as spiking players and other foul things to win the game. Should he be allowed in the Hall? What about all the players that we looked up to that was involved in scandals over the years of the game, no not all have entered the great Hall but some hold high honors in the game. You have players who admit to so many forms of cheating were it be doctoring balls, throwing spitballs, corking bats, or even worse doing drugs and not just steroids you have players admitting to using LSD and cocaine but we will look to these people because we want to be entertained. I am not saying it is ok to cheat on the game that we love so much, but what I am saying is the game is full of cheaters. This is not a new thing that has just popped up, there has been people cheating probably since or during the first game of baseball and plenty that are members of our highest honor in the game so why should they be allowed to be members when Mark McGwire who did the same thing is left out. Cheating is cheating and that is all I have to say.