The Hall of Fame Guidelines and Steroids

And I must say, I completely agree:

"When it comes to the electing players to the Baseball Hall of Fame, no new guidelines are needed to deal with the so-called Steroid Era because voters are already asked to consider a player's integrity and character.

That's what the Chicago chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America decided Friday.

The chapter will not forward any measures or recommendations to the national chapter of the baseball writers group, which will meet at next month's All-Star Game in St. Louis. While some Chicago writers said Friday they're frustrated at the idea of voting for people who may or may not have cheated, the majority said common sense is enough to guide their votes."

The one thing we have to remember about the steroid era is that everyone has their own opinion on the issue. There are a number of different camps on the issue.

1. Anyone who used steroids should not be inducted into the hall of fame
2. Those who used steroids should be allowed entry into the hall of fame, but only if steroid users are put in their own section, have an asterisk attached to their name, or have "steroid era" somewhere written on their HOF plaque
3. Lots of players used steroids and it would be impossible to keep an entire generation out of the HOF. Let them in!

Those are the main three that come to my mind, but I'm sure there are plenty of other opinions out there. That's why suggesting certain criteria for hall of fame voting would be too much. This issue is so divisive that it's impossible to suggest that the criteria become any more specific.

But on a side note, I'm starting to seriously doubt that ANY player accused or associated with steroids will get the needed votes for the hall of fame. I suspect that many writers-using Mark McGwire as the example-will not vote for any ball player who cheated. By that standard, there will be a good number of players, who will never come close to enshrinement considering how difficult it is to get 75% of the vote.