per request

anonymous asked me to "talk about mcgwire!"

i don't get requests very often, with the possible exception of "stop posting: do you want to go on another 8 game losing streak?" in honor of the request, i will have a few swings at this dead horse.

i was only making my way back into baseball fandom when big mac and corky sosa were in the race, and it wasn't home runs that brought me back. i like the strategy of baseball, and the fact that one needs to be a complete player to succeed for long (that's why i don't like the dh).
mcgwire wasn't a complete player, in my opinion. he was a home run hitter, plain and simple, and unfortunately for me and those who feel the same way i do, there will always be a place for those guys in baseball, today more so than in the past. he was an average first baseman, and didn't hit for a great average, it's just that every time he was up, there was a good chance of it going out of the park.

if i got a vote for the hall of fame, i wouldn't vote for big mac. i think his scene on the floor of congress tells us that he did more than the andro he admits to, and i don't want cheaters in the hall of fame. if big mac is a hall of famer, so is barry bonds, and i don't want him in there either.

however, my opinion has no weight in these matters. i think both mcgwire and bonds will be in the hall of fame, though not on the first ballot. it is bothersome to me that that's what serves as "punishment" these days. in twenty years, it won't matter who was first ballot or not; they'll be hall of famers. and some of them will be cheaters.