THE WAITING GAME

In 1998, the MLB was in bad shape. The Yankees were back on top which is always good for business, but the 1994 - '95 strike left such a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Suddenly America's game was taking a backseat to the other major sports. In come Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa as they effectively carried the entire sport on their back while chasing down Roger Maris' single season home run record of 61. McGuire would end with 70, Sosa 66. No offensive letdown was in sight as home runs went up and up and the new record was pushed to 73 by Barry Bonds. Baseball was back. Baseball was profitable. Baseball was in trouble.

In 2003, a mysterious liquid. "the clear." was anonymously mailed to the USADA. An undetectable steroid, it is traced back to a variety of places. Most notably to BALCO Labs, and Victor Conte. Their biggest client: Barry Bonds. Uh oh. Over the next four years, more and more of the games greats were exposed as cheaters, culminating at the end of 2007 with the Mitchell Report and its complete list of those known to take steroids. Rather then all at once, names were leaked one bombshell at a time. When the dust settled, dozens of sure fire, first ballot hall of famers had their names and legacy tarnished. As time went on, the game cleaned itself up. A stricter drug test regimen seemingly always leads to one suspension a year for some dope, pun intended, that didn't get the memo. Baseball isn't out of the clear yet though (pun not intended). Every year it's still presented with one tough decision, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Yesterday, Rafael Palmeiro got less than ten percent of the votes needed to get into the Hall of Fame. Mark McGuire has been on the ballots for a few years now, and while the number of votes he gets continues to go up, he's still not in. Next year, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens join them in their first year of eligibility. To think that one of the best pitchers of the last quarter century and the home run king may never make it to Cooperstown is absurd. Plenty of people cheated and didn't put up half the numbers these guys did. Their talent alone should be worth half the votes needed. Still they did what they did, which shouldn't go without some sort of punishment. If it were me, I would say make them wait the maximum run of eligibility, or 15 years. That way every year the players, the fans, and the media can be reminded of the embarrassment and shame these players brought on themselves and the game. Sooner or later time will give way to leniency, and these guys will find their way in. The same way Pete Rose should find himself at the podium in Cooperstown some day, assuming he can pull himself away from the Forum Shops in Las Vegas for the weekend. You cant leave out the greats. You can make them wait though.