Baseball players have always used what they thought were performance enhancers from day 1. It was only in the last few years that science came up with PEDs that could really enhance performances.
I can't even remember some of the stuff I heard over my younger years that players used. "Speed balls" seems to come to mind. Surely a baseball historian could give quite a treatise on PEDs over the years.
I also remember that Babe Ruth through much of his career used what at the time was an illegal substance - or at least one that was not for sale in the US - and that was alcohol.
There are also tales of various methods of cheating that have been employed from day 1. Everything from razor sharp spikes to signal stealing to possum grease. All things added together, cheating in baseball is hardly unique.
Many players who cheated are already in the hall of fame. The players that used today's PEDs are considered different because there form of cheating really, really worked - I always point to Brady Anderson's 50 HR year as the shining example. Should they be punished for that?
And my considered opinion is I really don't care. Personally I would let players in, with some statement that some of their accomplishments were accomplished with drugs that have since been banned in the sport.
This probably isn't going to affect many players anyway. MacGwire and Bobby Bonds are the only two I can think of. Both probably would have made it without using drugs. Maybe Rafael Palmeiro. Oddly enough, their use of drugs may end top keeping them out.
IMHO I can't think of any other players that were thought to use drugs that had the credentials to make the hall. Certainly not Sammy Sosa who had some spectacular drug enhanced years but was pretty mediocre beyond that.
Oops - I see I left Alex Rodriguez off that list. Hard to leave him out of the Hall.
Used to so love baseball, but the drug era and the money ended that love affair.
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