As of most us know, the ballots for the 2011 Hall of Fame induction are finally due sometime in the next month and the baseball world awaits as to who’ll be included as immortals in Cooperstown, New York.
Names such as former Oriole Roberto Alomar — who would have been inducted last year if not for the Hirschbeck incident — and Bert Blyleven will more than likely have busts up in the Hall of Fame when summer comes around.
One person who will probably have to pay to get into Cooperstown is Rafael Palmeiro, another former Oriole.
His is a particularly sad and befuddling case.
Although Palmeiro was never the best player on any of the teams he played, he built a career worthy of the Hall Fame based on his numbers at the plate and longevity.
Of course, in the spring of 2005, he told Congress that he didn’t use steroids – period.
However, a few months later, Palmeiro was the first player snared under MLB’s drug policy.
Even up to now, he says he never used steroids and still sticks to the story of Miguel Tejada injecting him with a tainted ‘B-12” shot.
Do I believe Palmeiro should be left out of the Hall of Fame – yes.
He cheated and got caught. Plain and simple.
The question I have in my mind over and over is why do we as fans still care about which guy used PEDs/steroids in baseball, when other sports — much less high-profile people — seemingly aren’t held to the same standard?
If you want to know why some players – ok, anyone – would want to partake in using steroids and performance enhancing drugs, take a look at this guy below.
He was a competitive bodybuilder and the best at his game.
Well, that person became a movie star, a Hollywood icon; served on the President’s Council of Fitness in the 90’s, married a member of the Kennedy clan, became ungodly rich and later would head the largest state in the Union.
You all know him well. He’s currently the governor of California.
Why he is not held to the same standard that we hold baseball players who suited up in the ‘Steroid’ era?
Maybe it’s an issue of certain guys breaking time-honored records or reaching milestones that they may — or may not — have been able to earn without some help.
