Mark McGwire= MLB Hall of Fame

Once again, the Hall of Fame inductees have come and gone for the year and once again Mark McGwire was left off the ballot. My question is why? The man deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as much as Rickey Henderson or Jim Rice. 

The reason McGwire is left out is because of the allegation of steroid use during his playing time. McGwire has admitted to using androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement product.

This product was legal when he was playing and should not be an issue in his HOF induction. Some say that McGwire admitted this to cover up that he was using other illegal steroids, but this is just hearsay. 

When McGwire went in front of congress to testify, he took the fifth when asked if he used steroids.  He has every right to do this no matter how guilty it makes him look.  At least by taking the fifth he didn't lie like Rafael Palmerio did, Palmerio said he has never done steroids but later tested positive. 

Allegations rage on, on what McGwire did or didn't do. His brother has said that he had seen McGwire do steroids and that he introduced him to them, but again this is all speculation. Nothing has ever been proven and it is doubtful that it ever will.

Mark McGwire deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Nay sayers say that his stats weren't good enough even before the steroid talk. This seems like a lame excuse that really doesn't hold up.

Mark McGwire's stats- AVG- .263, HR- 583, RBI- 1,414.

If you compare those to a similar Hall of Famer like Harmon Killebrew, then the argument doesn't make sense.

Harmon Killebrew's stats- AVG- .256, HR- 573, RBI- 1,584.

Not only do McGwire's stats hold up but some of what he did for the game should also be taken into account. In 1998, when he broke the single-season record for home runs, he along with Sammy Sosa helped bring the game of baseball back from what had been a dark time for the sport. 

Ever since the 1994 strike the game had been almost forgotten and it's popularity was at an all time low. The home-run chase got people excited again and made people remember why baseball was America's past-time. Along with this McGwire's record for home-runs by a rookie still stands at 49.

Mark McGwire only got 21.9 percent of votes this year on the Hall of Fame ballot. A player needs at least 75 percent of votes to get in. After seeing these numbers it looks like McGwire will never get in. 

Give Mark McGwire his due and put him in the Hall of Fame.