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Originally Posted by GAC
The MLB heirarchy knew this was going on years ago, and looked the other way. Why? Because guys like Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds, helped to re-invigorate baseball after the mid-90's strike.
Now that it is getting so much exposure and press, everyone is appalled at it? How can we expect the very people who condoned it to now punish the offenders? It'll never happen. MLB is first and foremost gonna cover their butts over this issue.
The image of these players has forever been tarnished in the eyes and hearts of those that really count - the fans. 
These players, IMO, couldn't stand up next to, nor be compared, to alot of the greats of the game.
What bothers me is that Pete Rose is banned from the HOF; but guys like this may be given future consideration. And all because of "technicalities" and vagueness over the rules concerning banned substances, which MLB refused for years to address (until they had to). |
With all due respect GAC, that's not entirely true. Because of the collective bargaining agreement, MLB was and still is prohibited from making unilateral decisions such as this. Even if baseball had evidence of steroid use (not saying they did or didn't), they could not have forced the players union to accept mandatory testing. At least not on the Major League level. On the Minor League level, the league was free to implement any drug testing policy they so wished. And they did in 1996. Before Mac and Sosa.
Could they have acted faster? Absolutely. But considering the legal and financial implications for both the league and the players, I'm actually impressed anything close to the current plan was ever implemented.
And on a somewhat different note, all these conspiracy theories suggesting the league turned a blind eye to steroids for financial gain seem cut of the same cloth as the theory the CIA sponsored crack gangs in LA to help fund the Contras.