For 30 years, baseball personnel have debated what should happen with steroid users and their Hall of Fame candidacies. These players are some of the greatest in the sport’s history and hold many of its most impressive records. However, their use of steroids—an illegal performance-enhancing drug—raises the question: Should they be enshrined in Cooperstown alongside the sport’s legends? I believe that steroid users with Hall of Fame-worthy accomplishments and statistics should be inducted.

The most abhorrent fact in baseball is that players who set incredible records are not in the Hall of Fame because of their steroid use. Players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Manny Ramirez were on Hall of Fame trajectories before using steroids. Bonds became only the second player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season, and Clemens struck out 20 batters in a single game—an achievement he repeated twice. These players were Hall of Fame-caliber even before using steroids. Some steroid users, like Brady Anderson, had one great anomaly season while using steroids, making their inclusion less convincing and easier to ignore. However, players like Bonds, Clemens, Mark McGwire, and others had Hall of Fame careers before turning to steroids later in their careers, often due to injury recovery.

Despite this, a 2008 Washington Post article revealed that 88% of people who disapproved of steroid use believed these players should not be in the Hall of Fame. That’s a valid opinion. If you choose to keep steroid users out due to their use of banned substances, that’s understandable. In that case, however, players from the same era who played clean should not be overlooked. These clean players, such as Kenny Lofton, were often overshadowed by steroid users. Lofton, who retired in 2007, was overlooked in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility because writers focused on the steroid-era players like Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa. As a result, Lofton, despite his Hall of Fame-worthy career, was excluded. Other clean players, such as Will Clark and David Cone, were unfairly compared to steroid users, which hurt their chances.

One argument steroid critics cannot ignore is that steroid users helped save baseball. In the early 1990s, the sport was struggling, especially after the 1994 MLB season was cut short due to a labor dispute. Despite an influx of young talent, the league faced financial difficulties. The emergence of steroid users, who set remarkable records and brought excitement to the game, revitalized the sport and brought fans back to the ballpark.

Moreover, most players were only caught using steroids after their careers ended, and drug testing wasn’t implemented until 2003. During the so-called “Steroid Era,” there were no clear rules against performance-enhancing drugs, and testing was minimal. Some argue that players shouldn’t be punished for actions that weren’t clearly prohibited at the time. Furthermore, steroids only enhance strength and speed but don’t guarantee success. Players still had to make contact with the ball, and pitchers still had to throw strikes. Steroids helped players hit the ball farther or throw faster, but success still required skill and technique.

In conclusion, steroid users with Hall of Fame-worthy careers should be inducted into Cooperstown. Players who were kept out due to steroid users’ inflated statistics, despite having exceptional clean careers, should also be included. I urge the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Hall of Fame voters to reconsider the cases of players like Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, Lofton, Clark, Cone, and others, as they are essential to the history of the sport and should be honored in the Hall of Fame.

Works Cited

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““Poll: Few See Steroids Ruining Sports, but Most Say Users Should Not Get in Hall of Fame.” 8 January 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/poll-few-see-steroids-ruining-sports-but-most-say-users-should-not-get-in-hall-of-fame/2013/01/08/595b5910-599f-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html.

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