Baseball & Steroids

In my opinion Baseball will always be the greatest game in the United States. It's just a shame that it took the The Mitchell Report to officially prove what the public has known for years. Many players have and currently use performance enhancing substances, ranging from steroids, to human or animal growth hormones, to make themselves "better" players and expand the length of their careers. Players who knowingly took these products against the rules of Major League Baseball, "Cheated", and we all know it.

You can make an argument that if the pitchers were using substances to make themselves better pitchers, then it's only fair that the batters used the substances to make themselves better hitters. Then it would only be fair that the fielders use the substances to be able to better field the ball that the "juiced up" batters were hitting off the "juiced up" pitchers. So what's the problem? Many of the players did not use these substances. What about them? They attempted to rely on their talent alone to try and best those who were cheating.

Records were broken, championships were won, wins and loses and other statistics were unfairly altered due the widespread use of these drugs and the players who cheated" MLB can attempt to punish the players and anyone else involved. They can erase the records of players who broke the rules, but can they go back and change the wins and losses for teams? Can they erase/add individual strikeouts, hits, runs, RBI's, etc... to those players who did not cheat?

We all know the punishment for players who take money to intentionally alter the results of a game, (see: The Black Sox Scandal), and players/managers who actively bet on baseball games, who are currently active in the sport, (see: Pete Rose). The punishment is a permanent restriction from ever playing the game again and from being included on a Hall of Fame ballot, thus banning them from The Baseball Hall of Fame. What should be the punishment for the users of performance enhancing drugs? They too altered the results of the game.

If any of the players named in the Mitchell Report are proven, not just implicated, to have intentionally used steroids, hormones, or anything else to unfairly alter their performance, then they should be punished.

Former Players should be immediately banned from participating in the sport of baseball for life and have their names removed from the Hall of Fame ballot for life, but not permanently. They should no longer be allowed to be involved in the sport, but since the use of these drugs was so wide spread, I think they should only be banned from the Hall of Fame until the day they die. This way the sportswriters of the future, can objectively weigh the player's achievements and possibly elect them to the Hall of Fame. If the player is elected to the Hall of Fame, they will not be alive to enjoy it. It is the only way retired players can be punished.

For those players currently active in the sport, then punish them according to the maximum punishment allowed by the current system that is set in place, Even if their use of the drugs are "after the fact." Then place a lifetime restriction to their inclusion on the Hall of Fame Ballot. Once again not a permanent ban, just until the player dies, so they cannot enjoy any benefits future Hall of Fame voters may choose to give them.

This is how I would handle the punishment for the players who have tarnished the reputation of the game forever!