by Nathan Munro

Created on: March 22, 2009

As a life long Cardinal fan it was tough to watch Big Mack get choked when he refused to answer questions asked by a Congressional inquiry about his involvement with steroids. It was embarrassing, as being moved to tears in public often is. But it made me think of another time I saw him nearly get blubbery during a press conference. It was during his playing days when he was talking to reporters about his charity that helps kids who are victims of domestic abuse. What's my point? There is more to this guy, and all the steroid era players, than their numbers and their mistakes.

Baseball was in shambles after the strike of 1994. I for one, had a west coast vacation ruined. I was out there to drive up the coast with my mom and see ballparks along the way. After a game in Oakland the strike happened and we didn't see another game. No one saw another game that year and even the World Series was cancelled. This was an unforgivable sin for true baseball fans to endure. Major League baseball had to win it's fans back in a big way.

There really was only one way to increase the popularity of the wounded sport-increase the frequency of its best play, the home run. So the powers behind the game looked the other way as guys got juiced. And as McGwire and Sosa went on a rampage with the entire sport on their backs we all cheered. It is very possible that Big Mack had as big a role in saving the game as Babe Ruth had in building up the game in the first place. And now, we turn our backs on him?

The more guys who are exposed as steroid users the better it will be for Mack. His generation will be known as the steroid generation and we only have one choice, let them all in the hall or keep them all out. I've been to Cooperstown and the place is amazing but already cramped. Maybe we just need to build a new wing, the "steroids era" wing. Seriously, we can't just omit an entire generation of ball players. That's not fair to me as a fan.

Remember that McGwire has already admitted to using substances that were not illegal at the time he used them. He retired from baseball before any testing was ever done for steroids so we can literally never convict him of any wrong doing. Innocent until proven guilty right?

Mark McGwire is a great person and the best pure power hitter of all time. He may have had help turning 420 foot shots into 450 foot shots, but steroids did nothing to enhance his work ethic, his intellectual approach to the art of hitting, or his off the field concern for his teammates, fans and his charities. The Hall of Fame will be a better place with him in it.

At this point it is up to him. The Hall of Fame is generous about how long you can stay on the ballot. He has time to get back in the game. He has recently shown signs of a significant return. He works in the offseason with four good young hitters and has an open invitation from Tony LaRussa to be a hitting instructor for the Cardinals. Again, this guy was not the Hulk, he took an intelligent approach to hitting. I'd like to see him eventually come clean with all the details of his playing days. Preferably in a book so we can avoid the tears this time.

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