McGwire a HOFer?

[DirtyKash]

Mark McGwire makes his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot this winter.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab2pos2

Some of the Cardinals fans responses:

"I have his autographed jersey in my basement and I thought it was going to be very valuable in the future," Gastman said, "but I'm not as proud of it anymore."

"He was good for St. Louis but I was really disappointed at his performance at the [congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball]. It left a lot of Cardinals fans with suspicions when he didn't talk about the past. There is too much suspicion for him to get in on the first vote. I'd like to see the smoke clear."

"He never was caught doing anything. Everyone gets a fair shake in this country and he was never convicted of anything. If there are any Americans out there without a skeleton in their closets, they aren't human. He was a great ambassador for the game and always a competitor. He's somebody who should be admired instead of having his name dragged through the mud. He resurrected baseball."

"I'm a baseball purist and it was heartbreaking to see him in front of Congress and not willing to wash his hands of the whole situation. I don't know how I'd vote. I'm a Cardinals fan but the game comes before any single player, and I would have to say 'no' until he comes clean. In 1998 I was as big a fan of his as anybody. Everybody in St. Louis was on his side. But that whole deal before Congress really changed a lot of people's opinion on the subject because he wasn't willing to say no, he didn't use steroids."

[catman]

Mark McGwire will eventually be enshrined in Cooperstown, although I don't believe he'll be a first ballot enshrinee. His testimony before the Congress was one of the worst performances of his career. The only player that came off looking good was Canseco, and he'll never get in.
He was once one of my favorite players and I have an autographed picture of him -- I collect baseball related autographs and have 41 HOFers now.

[GiantsFanatic]

Should be a 1st Ballot HOF, but the ****ing stupid voters wont let him.

[nyjunc]

He's this generation's Dave Kingman, he was HR or nothing and we now know where he got most of his power from. Even w/o steroids i think he was borderline(he was a lock b/c he got 500 HRs but I don't think that should make someone a lock especially when someone like mcgwire couldn't do anything else) but w/ steroids I would never put him n but he'll get in eventually just not on the 1st ballot.

[DravenX]

He might but no on 1st ballot.

[Kingdom]

I voted no, but if he is voted in, I'm not going to call in bomb threats on the voters.

[HollywoodLeo]

Should be a 1st Ballot HOF, but the ****ing stupid voters wont let him.

Ken Caminiti deserved the MVP too!

[Johndbr]

I think mark is a good guy, but there are lots of good guys in baseball hence it does not get you into the hall of fame. It is sad, but true that he has admitted to using steroids by his actions and I am sorry, that precludes him from the HOF.

[GiantsFanatic]

You can have guys like Babe Ruth, and Gaylord Perry in the HOF, than why not big mac?

[TheLeiterSide]

Probably not on the first ballot, but he'll get in eventually.

[General]

I'd vote him in on 1st ballot.

[Dam8610]

You can have guys like Babe Ruth, and Gaylord Perry in the HOF, than why not big mac?

When did Babe Ruth do anything to enhance his performance? Last I checked, playing hung over or with the clap doesn't help you hit the baseball better.

[GiantsFanatic]

Playing against a weak competition does give you an edge, he never played against the negro leagues nor the latino players. He also happen to play in a media friendly era, where the media only wrote positive stories, nothing negative.

Btw Mcgwire never admitted of taking any steroids, and till this day there hasn't been a positive steriod test on him.

[nyjunc]

You can have guys like Babe Ruth, and Gaylord Perry in the HOF, than why not big mac?

Perry does not deserve to be in but what did Ruth do?

[HollywoodLeo]

Playing against a weak competition does give you an edge, he never played against the negro leagues nor the latino players. He also happen to play in a media friendly era, where the media only wrote positive stories, nothing negative.

I suppose we should just take every player who played before Jackie Robinson entered the sport out of the HOF then?

If I insinuated Stachiel Paige, Sol White, or Biz Mackey shouldn't be in the HOF because they played against "weaker competition" the majority of or all of their careers I'd have a plethera of responses telling me to get my racist ass off these forums.

But I suppose the reverse is ok?

This assinine post implies that white guys are not as good as latino or black players.

How is it Babe Ruth's fault society in his day didn't allow black or latino players to play in the sport?

He demolished the competition that was put in front of him and that's the bottom line.

I'm very tempted to report your post for its racist nature. Last I checked that's against the forum rules.