By now, everyone knows that there is no more self-righteous, self-absorbed, and ridiculously arrogant entity in the world of sports than the Baseball Hall of Fame and all that it entails.  It routinely plays God, passing eternal moral judgments on people like Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, and the most recent heathen, Mark McGwire.  Today, two of baseball's most recent saints (and very deserving players) were promoted to the third heaven in the angelic forms of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn.  No one disputes the fact that these two deserve their wings.  However, who are you, Major League Baseball, to bang the gavel of justice like you know anything about people like Mark McGwire?

Who else shall you shun, oh judge of judges?  Do A-Rod and his imposing figure deserve your ire?  We all know that Rafael Palmeiro will feel your wrath, oh mighty smiter!  Now that Jason Grimsley has proven that your "banned substances" are not limited to hitters, shall you pass your judgment on the great Roger Clemens, whose physical conditioning despite age and years of use, seem to defy the very laws of nature that you so quickly embrace as law.  Have you gotten to the point that all it takes is to be born at the wrong time and you are suddenly guilty because you performed in the alleged "steroid era"?  You are the same people that have embraced casino employees (Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) in a time when baseball was much more sensitive to gambling.  You have endorsed users of other illegal drugs (Fergie Jenkins among others), womanizers (Babe Ruth), racists (Ty Cobb), drunks (pick a Yankee from the 50's and 60's), as well as many other participants in a variety of moral "transgressions".  Where is your line?  What is your standard?

In the United States of America, as well as Canada (that covers the Blue Jays and Expos), there is a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven.  You obviously are above that!  You can sit on you little perch and call people like McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds guilty, while pronouncing so many others innocent.  The rest of the human race wishes it could be so careless and indiscriminant in its judgments!  Not only are you punishing those who have been proven anything but guilty, but you yourself, Major League Baseball, have perpetuated this very problem!  It's your inactivity that led to the problem you had in the 1990's.  You had labor issues.  Your game was struggling.  So you sold your soul to the needle-packing devil, and now you have the gall to stand and pass judgment on the very people that you needed to survive through your darkest hour?  How dare you?  How dare you?

If all this isn't enough, you've robbed Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken of the greatest day of their individual careers.  Instead of writing about going to Memorial Stadium as a kid and Camden Yards as a teen to see #8, I have to talk about this.  Instead of paying homage to one of the greatest hitters I've ever seen, my generation's Ted Williams, I'm left to bloviate about the crime and the shame that you have dragged some of your brightest stars through.  Why?  Why have you done this to our game?  If you would've done something about these steroids when you should have, we'd be talking about the greatest Hall induction class since the very first one.  However, we are not!  We're talking about steroids!   I blame you Major League Baseball!  I blame you!