Screwballer

As a hardened St. Louis Cardinals fan myself, I wish I could forget about the deception that McGwire added to his famous 1998 season, but I just can't do it. In my opinion, Mark McGwire's use of illegal substances to enhance his baseball playing abilities, is likened to gambling on the game of baseball.

By violating the rules and regulations of major league baseball, he artificially altered his ability to contribute to the games that he was involved in. Like Pete Rose betting on a team that he controlled, McGwire used an unfair advantage to skew the outcome of the game.

I feel that if major league baseball is going to hold fast to the lifetime ban of Pete Rose for gambling, that Mark McGwire and all other players that used or are currently using illegal substances to alter their abilities, should also be excluded from the record books and they too should void their chances of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

As for McGwire's ability to be used as a coach, I am undecided at this time whether I feel that his experience and expertise on hitting should still be made available to players, but not as an employed member of any major league team. Baseball players are looked upto by young players nationwide. A standard needs to be set and adhered to that keeps these players honest and keeps the game of baseball clean.

Unless otherwise disproven, Roger Maris should still hold the official record for single season home runs. Any alteration to the outcome of games due to changing materials and factors that affect all players equally are just a product of the game itself. Individual players taking unfair advantages is 100% cheating and should not be tolerated.