Artificial Heros Need Not Apply

The Baseball Writers sent a message yesterday to those in the sport who may have improved their physiques through artificial means. While welcoming Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken to the Hall of Fame, they firmly rejected Mark McGwire:

Mark McGwire's Hall of Fame bid was met with a rejection as emphatic as his upper-deck home runs. While the door to Cooperstown swung open for Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn on Tuesday, McGwire was picked by less than a quarter of voters — a result that raises doubts about whether Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or other sluggers from baseball's Steroids Era will ever gain entry.

McGwire, whose 583 home runs rank seventh on the career list, appeared on 128 of a record 545 ballots in voting released Tuesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"I hope that as time goes on, that number will increase," Gwynn said. "I hope that one day he will get into the Hall of Fame, because I really believe he deserves it."

The 23.5 percent vote McGwire received represented the first referendum on how history will judge an age when bulked-up players came under suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball didn't ban steroids until after the 2002 season.

To be fair to McGwire, the andro he admitted to using was legal at the time and could be purchased at any GNC store. Whether he used any other steriods is not known and he has never admitted to any other. I think Barry Bonds may have a tougher time with the writers when his time come up, especially since he has not been known as a terribly nice guy to the media, and I'm sure some of them may have an ax to grind with Bonds.