With MLB Hall Of Fame induction coming up, it is still in question whether players who used Performance Enhancing Drugs should be allowed into the Hall Of Fame. From around 1998 to 2003, players in the MLB accomplished seemingly impossible feats with the help of Performance Enhancing Drugs(PED). Players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Manny Ramirez should be in the Hall Of Fame because of their outstanding performance as baseball players, but because of their use of steroids to gain an advantage, they have still not been inducted. This is the right decision and players who have used PEDs should not be allowed into the Hall Of Fame.

The Hall Of Fame has a morality clause that refers to a player’s morality, record, integrity, playing ability, character, sportsmanship, and contributions to his team as considerations to induction. A player who goes against the rules of the league and uses steroids to gain an unfair advantage is not upholding the integrity, morality, character, or sportsmanship that is required to be allowed into the Hall Of Fame. Players who decided to use PEDs did not play the game fairly, so they shouldn’t receive baseball’s highest honor. Being recognized as a top professional is an honor that deserves respect, but players who went against the rules and used PEDs don’t deserve that respect at all. Another reason that they should not be inducted is that the fact of using anabolic steroids or growth hormones as performance enhancers is illegal. Players obtain the drugs from doctors who are willing to break the law or from other illicit sources. Just because someone plays sports professionally, it does not give them the right to break the law, which is what players who used PEDs did.

Many people will use the argument that “everyone was doing it”, so they should not be held accountable for their actions. The argument that everyone was doing it does not stand as legitimate because the players in the MLB are grown adults, and should know that going against the rules and taking PEDs is the wrong thing to do. There are many professional baseball players who did not cheat who were forced to go against players who broke the rules and used PEDs. These players may have lost opportunities to advance in their career because of those other players. Imagine if you were a player in the MLB who had to play against other players with an unfair advantage, which could have affected your career. It is not fair to the other players that had to compete against players with such an unfair advantage to allow them into the Hall Of Fame.

An argument for why they should be allowed into the Hall Of Fame is that there are players who were racist and murderers. Just because there were players who did worse things than take PEDs doesn’t mean that players who took PEDs should be allowed into the Hall Of Fame. Another argument that they should be allowed into the Hall Of Fame is that PEDs don’t give players as much of an advantage in baseball as they do in other sports. For example, in baseball most of the skill comes from identifying the pitch and its rotation. This may be true, but using PEDs still gives hitters a huge advantage over other players. Certain balls that are hit as routine fly balls could be turned into home runs if the player was using PEDs. Barry Bonds was able to set an unbreakable record of seventy three home runs in one season using steroids, so the PEDs obviously gave him some sort of advantage at the plate. 

Players that used PEDs should not be allowed into the Hall Of Fame. The main reason for this is that being in the Hall Of Fame is an honor that requires sportsmanship, character, and upholding integrity, which is something that players who use PEDs do not have or do. Also, it is not fair to other players who played fair. For these reasons, players who used PEDs should not be allowed into the MLB Hall Of Fame.