Should Mark McGwire be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Poll suggestion by yankee8255 and DarthIntegral.

 

Yes. He's never tested positive and if 3/4 of the league were on performance enhancers (As Conseco claims), then the playing field was still even... From a certain point of view.

 

yes, i don't know if he used or not, but he's innocent until proven guilty, has never had a positive test and helped save baseball in the late 90s

 

I have no opinion. I don't really care if he gets in our not.

 

Yes, unless steroid use is proven. His numbers are definitely HOF worthy, but if it's proven that he used steroids, then I'll say no.

 

It doesn't matter to me.

 

Yes he should be in. He brought a lot of interest back to Baseball and brought the ratings sky high. The steroid issue will remain a ? mark with him because there's no way of finding out now.

Sammy Sosa should get in too,and this is coming from a Cub fan who still holds a grudge for what he did at the end of the 2004 season.

 

I voted no. It's a tough call, but his performance in front of congress was a disgrace.

 

No. He's not nearly as deserving as most inductees.

 

Yes, unless steroid use is proven.

I don't care what anyone says... most of those homers in his record-breaking season weren't exactly fence-scrapers, but the "WAY outta there" variety. Generally speaking, even if he was on the juice, most of those shots would have still been home runs. And anyway, if steroid use is so rampant, why doesn't everybody have a 60 home run season?

Copy this into the Barry Bonds poll too.

 

No. His guilt is implied. I think he cheated the system, and in all honesty, we should still have Roger Maris as the record holder of Homeruns. He consistently cheated the system as well throughout his career. And, he wasn't exactly a model of consistency in his Oakland days.


If you want further proof, read Rob Neyer's fantastic article on ESPN Insider regarding this issue.

 

Well put, Padawan. Could you provide a link to the Neyer article? Or a copy, since not everyone has access to ESPN Insider?

 

Right now I'd say yes. Whether guilt is implied or not, you can't condemn a man with no evidence to back you up. I think he used steroids. Unfortunately no one here can say that they know he used steroids, and if they do say it... well... they're liars.

Anyway, my point is, he has HoF numbers so until someone proves he's done something wrong, he should be in the HoF.

 

Nah, I can't, I don't wanna deal with the potential legal ramifications if I were to copy it over here. Sorry. But Neyer pretty much talked with 100 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame voting committee, and about two-thirds of them say they wouldnt ever vote for him.

 

Yes, unless steroid use is proven

 

I saw th e intro to that atrticle at espn.com, it's actually what gave me the idea for the poll! No problem about not pasting the article. Was mainly curious if it was a different one than the one I had seen.

As for the subject of proof of steroid use, I would submit that his pathetic performance before congress (how many times can you repeat the phrase 'I'm not here to talk about the past') is enough to bar him alone.

 

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No.

 

I have no opinion on this.

 

Nope.

 

Those who used steroids should never be allowed into Cooperstown with the honest players. If they built a separate wing for the players of this era, that'd be one thing, but until that day, No.

 

How do you decide for sure who would be in this separate wing? You can't just send everyone over, because not everyone from that used. Greg Maddux for example. One of the top pitchers in history, and pitched during the height of the steroid era, and more then likely, never touched the stuff. You want to shun him over to this other wing? Maddox is more then deserving of being a first ballot Hall of Famer.

McGwire never tested positive, and as bad as he looked before congress, he was not an active MLB player at the time, so who cares? I would vote for him.

 

I'd say no.