Should Mark McGwire be in the Hall? No.

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
December 6, 2006

It may surprise you, but I don’t have a Hall of Fame vote.

If I did though, the only Big Mac I’d vote for would be in the Hall of “Unhealthy Food That’s Delicious In My Tummy.”

Mark McGwire is the last man on earth that deserves entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame, with the ultimate reasoning coming down to one word: deception.

One way or another, McGwire has deceived the public. At a 2005 St. Patrick’s Day Congressional hearing, conducted to examine performance enhancing drugs and their links to professional sports, the slugger repeatedly dodged questioning about steroid use.

After hearing the emotional father speak to the congressmen about the untimely death of his son, a high school athlete who used steroids, what did McGwire say? He tearfully claimed that he was “not here to talk about the past.”

For me, there’s the nail in the coffin.

McGwire had his chance. He could have stood up and said that he took steroids, and noted that it was a terrible, terrible choice. Even if he never took steroids, McGwire could have at least acknowledged the great dangers of the powerful drugs and committed himself to being involved in teaching children of their dangers.

Not only did Big Mac refuse to “talk about the past,” but he has never appeared as a “spokesman” against performance enhancers, like he promised he would at the hearing. McGwire has also refused to testify to George Mitchell, who is currently conducting MLB’s steroids investigation.

As a matter of fact, McGwire hasn’t done much of anything since that hearing. No more pro-am golf tournaments. No more appearances at St. Louis Cardinals’ games. No more aspirations to become a Major League hitting coach.

This great hitter, who captivated the nation, along with Sammy Sosa, during their 1998 home run chase, has been reduced to hiding. Does anyone honestly think it’s for no reason?

Let’s face it, the bulk of McGwire’s supposed home run numbers were compiled from 1996-1999, with the first baseman hitting 245 home runs during that span. How does a baseball player hit 92 more home runs from age 33-36 than he did from age 24-27 (with no injuries)? It just doesn’t happen.

The most common argument to include McGwire in the Hall—a lack of "true" evidence—is very weak. There is no set formula for electing an individual to the Hall of Fame, just guidelines the Hall asks the Baseball Writers Association of America to consider. One of the guidelines writers are asked to consider is character. In addition, how about some common sense?

McGwire hit .289, .260, .231, .235 and .201 during his first five full seasons. He only has a career batting average of .263 and won only one gold glove (1990). His lone claim to fame was the 1998 home run chase, to go along with his power hitting. McGwire was a one-dimensional player who used performance enhancers to balloon his only major talent.

So far, early indictations are that most voters agree with me. In a recent Associated Press poll of 20 percent of eligible BBWAA members (you must be a member for 10 years to be eligible), just one in four claimed that they would vote for McGwire—far short of the necessary 75 percent.

McGwire helped bring baseball, still struggling from the 1994 strike, back into the national spotlight in the late ’90s.

But one act of charity never justifies a career of deception.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu