On August 7, 2007, Barry Bonds hit career home run number 756 to pass Hank Aaron for the most home runs of all time. On September 8, 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season to pass Roger Maris for most home runs in a single season. Sammy Sosa would also surpass Maris in the same season. Roger Clemens won his 7th Cy Young award in 2004 giving him two more than previous record holder, Randy Johnson.

Other than holding impressive records in baseball, what do these three men have in common? They are all cheaters. Sure, at the time, PEDs were not necessarily illegal and most of the users confessed to it, but it is still an unfair advantage like any other.

Is it fun to see a player mash 70+ home runs in a season? Definitely. But, I am not so sure a pitcher who has one of those baseballs coming back towards his head at 130 mph thinks the same.

Ban from baseball

The only just punishment for cheaters should be the same as those received by other players for similar scandals, just ban them. One of the most notorious players to ever be banned from baseball is all-time hits leader, Pete Rose. Rose was banned for betting on baseball while still a player and coach. After multiple attempts at being reinstated, other allegations arose including one of Rose having sexual affairs with a minor. Rose admitted to it after claiming it was when the girl was 16 years of age, which was the legal age of consent in Ohio at the time.

Rose would have been married in his mid-30's with two kids.

Pete Rose was one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. Due to gambling while in a Reds uniform, he will never be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Another famous scandal was that of the 1919 Black Sox and their star outfielder, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. After losing the World Series, Jackson and seven other Black Sox players were accused of throwing the Series in return for $5,000 each.

They were ultimately all banned from baseball. That seems like a reasonable punishment, except Jackson hit .375 with 12 hits, a World Series record that lasted until 1964. He also committed no errors and gunned down a runner at the plate.

With "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Pete Rose being banned from baseball for these reasons, why can't the PED users and cheaters be banned from the game?

Does baseball support steroid use in the game? Something needs to change, because if the likes of Bonds and Clemens can make it into the Hall, what is stopping the next generation of players from using Steroids?

Joe Morgan's letter to BBWAA

Joe Morgan is a Hall of Fame baseball player who now serves as a special advisor to the Cincinnati Reds. Morgan recently wrote a letter to the BBWAA members about the upcoming Hall of Fame vote, advocating to keep PED users out. In the letter, he speaks for many HoF inductees about the pending steroid users' eligibility for the prestigious place in history. He, among others, realizes how catastrophic it would be to have cheaters in the Hall of Fame. It compromises the integrity of the game.

The solution

If Bonds or Clemens somehow make it in, it will open a floodgate that baseball does not want to have to deal with. You are now putting Bonds in the same category as Ruth, Williams, Robinson, and countless others who played the game the right way and earned their spot in history. As exciting as it was to see Clemens strikeout 20 in a game, he did it with an unfair advantage. There were so many players that used steroids that we will probably never even know about, but don't just sit idly by and let the ones we do know about take over the sport.

Not only should steroid users be banned from the Hall of Fame (and possibly baseball in general), they should have an asterisk next to their name in the record books.

PEDs made waves in baseball during the 1980's and have been banned from baseball since 1991. Don't ban the drug and then support a player who used the drug. That goes against everything baseball is about. The solution is simple, ban steroid users and never look back.
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