Why McGwire deserves to be in the Hall

Ok, so we recently found out that Mcgwire did use steroids; effectively blowing everyone's proverbial minds.

Mark Mcgwire wasn't the only one known for his home run prowess. Arguably, the first baseball player to be known for the long ball actually had the nickname "Home run". His name?

Home Run Baker

Home Run Baker was a whopping 5'11'' 173lbs. Despite the fact that the smallest players from the steroid era would dwarf him, 5'11'' 173lbs was actually quite monstrous in the early 1900's. (another reason you have to consider the era someone played in. Humans were tiny back then :)

Known for his unmatched ability to hit home runs (at the time), Mr. Baker hit a league leading 11 HR's in 1911. note: 11 is how many Rich Ankiel hit in 2009 and doesn't even fall in the top 150.

Mr. Baker finished his career with 96 HR, 987 RBI's, .307 avg and 1838 total hits. These numbers would hardly be enough for the 5% threshold needed to stay on the HOF ballot let alone 75% needed to be elected based on today's standards. As evidence of this I submit John Kruk and Mike Greenwell's stats.

John Kruk and Mike Greenwell (whom both didn't sniff the HOF) had nearly identical numbers as Mr. Baker.




None of the statistical achievements of Home Run Baker are considered "shoe-ins" for the Hall. And at 6'0'' 200lbs, Mike Greenwell would have been a real monster back then. Just imagine if he played back then! He'd be a definite HOF.

I think you can see my point. If Mr. Baker had these #'s in today's era he wouldn't make the 5% cut needed to just stay on the ballot. Instead, Mr. Baker's achievements are viewed through the lens of history and the 'deadball era' to which he played.

In this 'dead ball era', Home Run Baker set himself apart from other players as one of the few who could hit a home run and he became a fan favorite as a result.

During his 'era', Mark Mcgwire set himself apart from others. He became the major home run threat of the 90's only to be surpassed by Barry Bonds. Even with how good Bonds was, Mcgwire still has the best home run per at bat ratio in the history of the game! And this is with Mcgwire facing roided up pitchers as well!!!

As I argued in a post back in OCTOBER, Mcgwire's HOF credentials should be judged based on the 'era' he played in.

Mcgwire has the best home run-to-at-bat ratio in the history of the game, while facing roided up pitchers. A less talked about nugget is the fact that pro-hormones were rampant as well (and I still think they are!). You could buy andro at Target in the mid-to-late 90's for god sakes. If some estimates are correct and about 50% of players were using steroids, what would the percent become if pro-hormones (like andro) were included? To put in context, if you used a pro-hormone and tested positive today, you would receive a 50 game ban.

Food for thought: Is it cheating if everyone was doing it?