Henry Aaron and other HOFer's, Goose Gossage and Reggie Jackson offered their opinions today to USA Today on the potential entry into the Hall of Fame of steroid-linked players in the future.
"You put these guys in, put an asterisk beside their names," Aaron told the San Francisco Chronicle. "To be safe, that's the only way I see you can do it. I played the game long enough to know it is impossible for players, I don't care who it is, to hit 70-plus home runs. It just does not happen."
So says Hall of Famer Henry Aaron, speaking on the eve of this year's induction ceremony at Cooperstown.
McGwire, who hit 70 homers in 1998, and Bonds, who slugged 73 in 2001, have been accused of using steroids. Aaron (755), who is second in career homers to Bonds (762), added it's a good idea to "somewhere on the (Hall of Fame) plaque or beside his name say, 'Hey, 73 home runs and he's been accused ...' "
Aaron's compromising attitude is not necessarily shared by other members of the exclusive Hall of Fame club.
"I think if you cheated, you shouldn't be allowed in," Goose Gossage, a 2008 inductee, told USA Today. "I just think it's a bad things. The numbers just don't mean the same.
"If I was a writer, I wouldn't even consider (voting for a steroid user). It's a no-brainer."
Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson says that "it hurts," to see players linked to steroids pass Mickey Mantle and others on the all-time home run list, but he will follow Aaron's lead.