Steroids Stream of Consciousness

To be clear, this is a stream of consciousness about my feeling on steroids, not a stream of consciousness on steroids about my feelings. And ... Begin:

A-Rod, Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, Ivan Rodriguez, etc. - they're the real problem. These are people who, in my estimation, deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. But what does that make the Hall of Fame? After all, they haven't enshrined the all time hits leader (SERIOUSLY?). My own perspective is this: let's regard Aaron as the all-time homerun king, even if we don't reflect it in the record books, let's regard Pujols and others as the real winners of MVPs that won't be redistributed, let's be pissed that the offenders thought so little of the game that they thought their behavior was acceptable (regardless of their motivation). Let us not think, however, that these aren't men deserving of the Hall of Fame (maybe some toward the end of the list aren't, but stick with me). Bonds and Clemens are HoFers merely on body of work. McGwire and Sosa saved baseball, and they have deserving numbers. Palmeiro's stats are absurd (I don't care what you're on, 3,000 hits and 500 HRs = HoF). With the exception of Piazza, has there been a premiere catcher in the past two decades other than I-Rod? The arguments could be articulated better, I know, but the point remains, if the Hall of Fame is about the best, most impactful players, don't these guys belong?

I despise what these men and others have done to the game, the way they've tainted my love of the game, but where else do we hold our heroes up to such high standards? Not in politics. Not in military conquest. Not in entertainment. How many philanderers, liars, hate-mongers, drug-abusers, and sycophants have we elected to public office, given Grammys and Oscars, enshrined and otherwise recognized as heroes?

All this having been said, I am dropping it (for now). A-Rod can go screw himself. So can Sheffield and Giambi and I-Rod and whomever else is out there today that I know to be guilty. Anyone I don't know to be guilty I hereby assume to be innocent. I don't want to be naive, but I prefer that to being cynical (for now).

GO CARDS!