No joy in Mud Ville.
Some of the mightiest baseball greats have struck out. For the first time in many years, nobody was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame.
The Baseball Writers' Association of America decided not to induct anyone in this years' class. Some believe the reason for the snub was that some of the candidates such as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens were alleged users of steroids.
Even Jack Morris and Alan Trammel the former Tigers greats were denied induction.
What kind of message were the writers sending to baseball. It's one thing to deny those who used, but did they have to snub all the players eligible.
Yes, baseball needs to clean up the steroids mess. Players need to be held accountable if they cheat. It should have never been a factor in baseball. It's not however, up to the writers to play judge and jury.
Even if players admitted steroid use, achievements can't be erased. Even if you take away their awards, titles, records and deny them entry into the Hall of Fame, the damage to the integrity of baseball is done. Once doubt exists, it's hard to gets past it. Even if there's no proof of cheating, there will always be echos of distrust.
All the MLB officials can do is move forward with tougher penalties for those who use. Even with the tougher sanctions and new drugs tests, those who want to cheat will still try to find a way to do it.
Maybe next year Jack Morris will be finally be a Hall of Famer.
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