1988 MLB MVP Voting: Discussion

Recently, after 1988 AL MVP Jose Canseco released a book detailing his frequent steroid use, runner-up Mike Greenwell remarked that the MVP award should belong to him.

If you ask me, Greenwell is right. Baseball fans generally support the notion of taking measures to invalidate players' ill-gotten awards, and perhaps even their statistics.

Hall of Fame membership should not necessarily be denied to steroid users; I'd suggest that known steroid use should simply be seen as a factor discounting the impressiveness of a player's stats. Canseco was never really on the HOF bubble, but a player like Barry Bonds probably still deserves a place in the Hall, if not the record books. But maybe I see the purpose of the Hall of Fame differently from some - it is, after all, a museum, and to that end the great players should be recognized. The reverence that comes from the record books, however, can appropriately be denied to juicers.

--NationInChicago 10:10, 1 February 2006 (PST)