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?

Ken Griffey Jr. Did Steroids (or some kind of test booster)

Ken Griffey Jr. is, and will always be, remembered as one of the greatest players of all time. He has 600+ career homeruns, has been on sportscenter making unbelievable plays my entire childhood and used to pimp the hell out of his homeruns. Something curious happens when you fully examine Jr.'s homerun numbers and compare to pictures...

Griffey starts his career averaging 22 homers in 145 games per season. Griffey then went from 27 to 45 homers and gained (what appears to be at least) 20 lbs between the 92 and 93 seasons.

Then he hit 40 hrs in 111 games in the strike shortened 94 season (on pace for 58 hrs). Has a nasty injury on maybe the best catch I've ever seen in 95, and in 96-00 averages 50 homers in 153 games a season.

Remember, this unbelieveable 50 homers a season average between 96-00 just happens to be when hitting 50 was all trendy. Albert Belle (steroids) got it started in 1995 with 50. Brady Anderson (Steroids) and Mark Mcgwire (Steroids) hit 50+ in 1996. Mcgwire (steroids) hits 58 to Griffey's (steroids?) 56 in 1997. We all remember what happened in 1998 with Sosa (steroids) and Mcgwire (steroids) but Greg Vaughn (steroids) also hit 50 and Griffey hit 56.

Believe it or not, Griffey was pretty injury free up to this point with the exception of his huge injury in 95. Then out of nowhere he starts to get consistantly injured (mostly ligimate injuries which are associated to steroid use) and averages 23 homers a season in 110 games per season.

Compare the 23 average homers in 110 games to his 40 in 111 games during steroid era. If you adjust the totals to equal his 96-00 games played average... He averaged 32 homers per 153 games during his injury prone years.

recap: Griffey in my mind is a definite HOF, and should get 100% of the vote. Call me skeptical though, that a guy gains 20 lbs in the steroid era, and jumps his average homerun per season by 210% for four seasons, then starts to get ligament injuries(common steroid injury) all while everyone elses' bodies get bigger and hit 50 homers a season. I'm not sure why he got a free pass. I think part of it was that we all liked his smile and his attitude. He was friendly to the press and fans. Let us not kid ourselves though...Griffey had his best four years during the the height of the steroid era. Here are a list of people who hit 50 homers with him during those years...Albert Belle, Brady Anderson, Mark Mcgwire, Greg Vaughn, Sammy Sosa. What do all of those players have in common? If you said "they play baseball?" you are correct :)