Maybe Cal and Tony didn't deserve a Hall pass either

By Steven Lienert

If a baseball player had over 10,000 at-bats, 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, a lifetime .288 average and a .515 slugging percentage over a 19-year career, it would have been a pretty good bet that guy would be a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Instead, come 2010, Rafael Palmeiro will be lucky to be named on the ballot.

Mark McGwire's Hall snub earlier Tuesday almost assured that players like Palmeiro, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa may never have a plaque hanging in Cooperstown. Either that, or they will have a plaque with an asterisk on it.

But prior to his finger-wagging at Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005, Palmeiro was considered to be as squeaky clean as first-ballot HOF'ers like Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Before he got 'caught', there's no way any of us would have suspected Raffy was on the juice.

Yet, for some reason, Ripken, despite having broken Loe Gehrig's long-standing consecutive games streak, escaped suspicion. Why?

The guy played in at least 162 games for 10 straight years. Is someone gonna tell me he never popped a greenie or two like Mike Schmidt did? He never took something to help him get through the night or, gulp, through the entire season?

Let's not forget that, even after Ripken's consecutive games streak died, he still played full seasons in 1997 and, yes, 1998. And that was at ages 36 and 37, respectively.

Now, I'm not saying he was on the juice. But, since MLB didn't test for it, how are we to know he wasn't? Weren't we sure Raffy was clean, too?

Like Ripken and Gwynn, McGwire never tested positive for steriods. Yet, McGwire wasn't voted into the Hall today because he was lumped in with players that have. And it was an injustice, especially for a guy that practically saved baseball from itself in 1998.

Sure, it was obvious that McGwire was on something. But baseball had no problem turning a blind eye to it in '98. But now, in the early winter of '07, baseball decides to dole out its punishment? Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

And what about pitchers? The guys tossing 100 m.ph. fastballs at McGwire, Sosa and Bonds weren't juiced up too? The point is, it seemed like everyone was juicing, so everyone should be held to the same standard.

McGwire -- like Bonds, Palmeiro and Pete Rose for that matter -- deserve a place in the Hall.

Perhaps Cooperstown needs to build a new wing for Hall of Fame cheaters. That way players that are deserving but broke the rules -- like Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson -- have their 'place' in history.

But don't forget to move Ty Cobb's plaque into that wing as well.

As much as I may not like it, players like Cobb, Jackson, Rose, McGwire, Bonds and Sosa have a place in the Hall. Either that, or no players from the Steroid Era should be voted in -- Ripken and Gwynn included.

Steve Lienert can be made fun of in the comment section, but if you really want to get under his skin, email him at stevelienert@hotmail.com

**Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press**