I’m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn’t take any and I had bad years when I didn’t take any. I had good years when I took steroids and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn’t have done it and for that I’m truly sorry.

Everyone knew he was lying...

When a man faces the nation and admits he cheated, that takes balls. One could argue that he should have done so during the congressional hearings a few years back, but that’s water under the bridge. While I don’t condone what he did, I can certainly appreciate when a person owns up to their faults. It’s not easy to do in the 4 walls of your own home, let alone in front of a camera broadcasting your confession to the world.But that’s about as far as I will go in defending him. The bottom line is he knowingly cheated the game of baseball.

Baseball purists, analysts, newspaper columnists and others will surely parade his head around on a stick, and make an example of him; someone who cheated to get a competitive advantage and will now pay the ultimate price of not being elected to the Hall of Fame. But if you don’t elect McGwire in, you need to refuse Bonds, Clemens, and ARod (just to name a few). The question now becomes whether or not the voters have enough balls to stick by their guns and refuse all of them.

Electing one, and not the other is sending the entirely wrong message to kids, and the mainstream public who pays good money to watch the product MLB puts on the field. Elect all of them, and you’ve basically said “we don’t care about the fact they cheated, everyone did, so no one really had an advantage”, but tell that to the players who have seen their records disgraced by cheaters.

The only option the Hall of Fame has is to flat out refuse anyone who has publicly admitted to taking steroids. If you’re a young kid and getting very good at baseball (good enough to get drafted) seeing an entire era of players get denied the sports ultimate honor because they took PED’s would surely deter you from even trying them.

What about the Mitchell Report you ask? Anyone’s name who has come up numerous times as an alleged steroid user who is being considered for the Hall of Fame should have to go through the equivelant of a criminal interrogation. I’m talking lie detector tests, one-on-one interviews with top interrogation experts, background checks with former clubhouse attendants and trainers. If you pass, you’re in, if not, you are denied with no chance for appeal.

While all of this may seem a bit extreme, it’s the only way in my mind to clean up the game for future generations. By denying the sports ultimate personal honor to those who disgraced and belittled the sport where statistics mean so much, you are sending a clear message that America’s Pastime is a sport we can all trust.