Quote:
Originally Posted by KC_Connection
That's a shame, but it's the world we live in. If 80% of the people in the sport are "cheating," does it remain "cheating?" It sucks for the 20%, I suppose...but what are you going to do...ban the 80% and destroy the product on the field? Not likely.
Amphetamines allowed baseball players (and still do allow baseball players) to play the game every single day. Without them, we wouldn't have seen many guys put up the numbers they did or play as long as they did. Actually, I can't think of any drug that would have more of an impact than those things...that's why they were used even more frequently than steroids.
Edit: Both were illegal drugs that players used to enhance their performance, btw. What am I missing here?
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If uppers had increased a player's strength to the point of hitting homers every six or seven times at bat I suppose you might have a valid point. But steroids didn't just help McGwire stay on the field. They made him into an unnatural freak who was able to turn pop flies into home runs.
That's a big difference. And it's a big enough difference to deem his numbers as not authentic and his playing career not worthy of the HOF. And his numbers should not be compared to those who didn't juice. Had he not juiced he would never have come close to HOF consideration.
By the way, I think your 80% figure is considerably high. The "everybody does it" excuse won't diminish the fact that McGwire's numbers are fraudulent. The fact that his numbers spike unnaturally during the time he was juicing should be evidence enough to the objective mind.