Gwynn and Ripken, Yes - McGwire, No

Today is one of the high points of the baseball offseason when the new baseball Hall of Fame inductees are announced. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn made it in the first their try being named on 98.5% and 97.6% of the ballots, respectively. Rich 'Goose' Gossage just missed the Hall at 71.2% - a shmae because the Goose deserves it big time. He was a closer when that meant pitching two or more innings.

Unfortunately, the big news is that Mark McGwire only got 23.5%, Unfortunate because this day should belong to the guys who get in, but - what the hey, the hot stove needs a good argument anyway. I would not not have voted for McGwire this year. I still like to keep the first-time entry for the really special players. The cloud over McGwire earns him a one year delay in my book. I would vote him in next year - and I expect he will surge next year, but not anywhere near the required 75%.

Look, when McGwire played steroids were not prohibited by baseball - and were not illegal with a prescription. The stuff we know he took was legal when he took it. He sounded stupid in front of Congress, but that's not a test for the Hall of Fame. He is being punished for the sins of a generation of ballplayers as the first available target. Are none of these guys - Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Palmeiro, Clemens et al. - going to be allowed in the hallowed hall? Do players from the 'steroid era' have to prove their innocence? And how would you do that? How do you prove a negative 10 or 15 years after the fact?