It’s pretty hard to get things wrong as a sports writer. The stats are plain as day, written in neat little boxes published by major sports leagues. One team wins, one team loses. Aside from that, we all recognize predictions and analysis are merely speculation. Imagine my surprise, then, when I read Jacob May’s sports column calling for Major League Baseball’s “juicers” to be enshrined in the hall of fame (“Baseball’s juicers need their busts in the Hall,” ODE Jan. 11). His stance on this position, and all of his justifications for that stance, are just plain wrong.
May’s arguments that McGwire, Sosa and others should be enshrined simply because they “represent the age of steroids” makes absolutely no sense.
May’s comparison to Ty Cobb, who sits in the hall, is equally absurd. Halls of fame are not there to dictate “moral fiber” as May agrees; they’re there to acknowledge outstanding performance. Issues concerning a player’s odious speech, and possibly even a criminal record, can be overlooked; steroid use, due to its direct enhancement of the primary criteria for entry, cannot. Anything done to enhance one’s competitive abilities should automatically and irreversibly exclude them from consideration.
I applaud the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s board, and the fans, who have overlooked “juicers” when casting votes in the past. Steroid use is probably inevitable, but by sending a message to players that strong suspicion of its use (or any other performance enhancing method) is enough to exclude you from entry into the hall of fame, we’re doing the right thing for sports as a whole. One can mention Jose Canseco, McGwire and the other supposed juicers in a book about great athletes perhaps, but we should never seat them in the hall of fame.
Aaron Donaldson
Eugene resident