To date, there are no Hall of Famers among the ever-increasing list of known steroid users who currently play or once played in the MLB. Some of the game’s biggest names like Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire have admitted they used performance-enhancing drugs, while others like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens continue to fight to prove their innocence. As we know, voters have not come close to letting McGwire in the Hall of Fame because of it. What will happen with the others when their time comes remains to be seen, but Hall of Famer George Brett says voters would be wise to steer clear of anyone whose name is tied to PEDs.
“I wasn’t a home-run hitter,” Brett said according to the Arizona Republic, “but I know from talking to guys in the 500-home run club, guys like Schmitty (Mike Schmidt) and some other guys like that, if those guys make it in then they’ll never go back. Meaning those guys will never go back and attend (the Hall of Fame inductions) if the cheaters get elected.”
If you ask Jose Canseco, there’s just one minor problem with Brett’s theory: A steroid user is already in the Hall of Fame. Canseco, who has a solid reputation for telling the truth when it comes to PED usage, said more than two years ago that Major League Baseball is going to have a big problem on its hands when they find out that a current Hall of Famer used steroids. At the time we speculated that it could be Rickey Henderson or a few other former teammates of Canseco’s, and anyone would be extremely naive to think that it’s not possible or likely.
Brett also said that A-Rod should not get into the Hall of Fame just because he came clean and that he should have gone about it like Jason Giambi and Andy Pettite did. As Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk mentioned, how was Rodriguez’s confession any different? Either you’re willing to make amends for guys who admitted it or you’re not.
If you believe both Brett and Canseco, the Hall of Fame could be facing a major dilemma at some point in the near future.
