The baseball world has spoken. Around 74% of active participants in a recent poll voted no to electing Mark McGwire into the Hall Of Fame. I'm not surprised at all. Too many people feel he's cheated his way to historic records and smeared his career achievements. During the congressional hearing concerning steroids in March 2005 McGwire gave most everyone the impression he was guilty by failing to comment about his career and what went on prior to 1998. I don't see why any chair member in baseball would vote for him now because he has yet to come forth and be honest. Fans know players do illegal stuff behind closed doors sometimes and are willing to forgive.
The St. Louis star slugger would've been included on the 2007 ballot which includes inductee hopefuls such as Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Andre Dawson, Paul O'neil, Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, Lee Smith, and Dale Murphy. Most of these stars played with intregity and didn't leave the game with questionable ethical actions. If McGwire wants to get elected into the Hall he has no other choice, but to be bold enough to admit his mistakes and accept his fate. I want to believe there are some fans who still have compassion for him and will be open-minded until hearing the truth (if it ever surfaces).
Everyone will remember the magical homerun chase in 1998 between McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The 70 homerun the first baseman hit could be insigniciant, having an asterisk beside them in the record books. However, even with McGwire admitting he used steroids MLB can view his stats from the early part of his career and still see he was a homerun hitter, a clutch performer, and just may be that will give him merit and some credibility. His 583 career homeruns will also be took into consideration. Going down in history though only as a cheater and liar will truly tarnish his career as baseball and fans will see pass all other honorable achievements.
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