Steroids and the Hall of Fame

For a long time I was strongly on the "if you took steroids you should not be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame" side of the argument. I thought I would never change my stance, and I'm surprised as I write this that I have changed my stance.

After seeing some arguments here about Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, and the Hall of Fame, now is as good of a time as ever to explain my change of mind.

A friend of mine said to me one sentence that completely changed my take on the Hall of Fame.

"If Babe Ruth played in the steroid era you know he would have used steroids."

There is no way this can be proven right, and I won't even bother giving an opinion on whether or not it is right. More importantly, though, there is no way you can prove it wrong.

Certain players I think of and think "there is no way they would," but that doesn't change the fact that that is only an opinion. Unless we go back in time, offer the players steroids, and see how they respond, we cannot just assume they wouldn't use, and let them into the Hall of Fame.

By keeping them out because of steroid usage, you're punishing players like Rodriguez and Pettitte because of the era they played in. If you want to keep them out because of lack of stats, or talent, sure, for Rodriguez that would be silly, but that is up to you. Leaving Rodriguez or Pettitte out because of steroids is like leaving older players out for using bigger bats.