McGwire snubbing

I'm now convinced that the Baseball Writers Association are comprised largely of egocentric assholes, who, having not been able to achieve the level of physical prowess as professional athletes, use their political pull to affect these players lives.

In yesterday's Hall of Fame voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, the BWA voted in Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, but snubbed Mark McGwire. Sure, there were a lot of other great players not voted in this year, too, but McGwire unquestionably deserves to be in there.

Their reasoning for not voting in McGwire is because of suspected steroid use. Suspected. The thing is, he refused to answer, under oathe, whether he had used these substances or not. People took this as a sign of guilt. He admitted that he used certain substances that, while they weren't banned by baseball at the time, are now.

I understand that he wasn't voted in during his first eligible year. But what I don't understand is how these "judges" can keep him out because they think he seemed like he might be guilty of using "substances". McGwire was a gentleman. He helped (is helping) numerous charitable organizations. He was a team player and his home run race with Sammy Sosa reinjuvinated the game of baseball. Tell me you're any kind of sports fan and don't remember the 98 season when he broke Roger Maris' record and finished with 70 home runs?

And, if you are convinced that he took steroids and this allowed him to hit all those home-runs, do you think that he took steroids his whole career? Do you think this allowed him to win his gold gloves and silver sluggers? Come on!

The Hall of Fame contains some people with questionable character: drunks, wife-beaters, racists. Is using steroids grounds for banning from the Hall of Fame? I don't think so. Lots of people, especially during McGwire's era, used controlled substances. The fact that he rose above all those proved that he still performed at a level beyond them. But, that isn't the point. The point is it wasn't proven he used them. People THINK he did because he refused to answer some questions about his past.

It's an atrocity that no-talent, holier-than-thou WRITERS (not players...Tony Gwynn himself stated that McGwire should be in there) can decide the fate of such a great man. To make it worse, many comments I've seen state that they're glad that McGwire wasn't voted in. Will Barry Bonds, one of the best players of all-time, be refused admission because he bulked up so fast? Or because he's an asshole to the press?

People need to grow up, take themselves less seriously and recognize that accomplishments are accomplishments. If you're going to start voting people out of "the club" because of questionable character or possible errors in judgement, then don't judge them by their stats at all.

By stats alone, McGwire should be in there. When you add to the fact how he carried himself and what he did with baseball, he should be on the top of the list.

Go to Hell, BWA. Let the players vote on who should be included.