Maddux and Glavine Benefitted from PEDs Too

I've written before about how the likes of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.  Simply put, they are two of the most dominant players in baseball history.

It doesn't matter that they likely used performance-enhancing drugs; they were dominant over competition that was also using PEDs.  Performance-enhancers ran rampant in the game for the better part of 20 years, just as amphetamines and other drugs ran rampant in other MLB eras.

Held to today's standards, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Hank Aaron, and Whitey Ford may all have been kept out of the Hall.  And if you don't think there is a long list of current and recently-retired stars who have breathed huge sighs of relief for not being outed as a "user," you're foolish.

So for every criticism hurled at Bud Selig for turning a blind eye to PEDs, you can direct some of that frustration and anger at the most influential "innocent" players during the PED era too.

Remember, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine made light of McGwire's enormous power in "chicks dig the long ball":

Maddux and Glavine didn't exactly come across as anti-PED crusaders back in 1996.  In fact, I doubt there was a single player in the league during the 1990s who didn't know PED's were running rampant.  They all profitted from the post-strike home run obsession.

On top of it all, Glavine was in a position to fix it.   As the Braves' long-time players' union rep, he was one of the leading voices in the MLBPA - the organization that fought off drug testing for so long.

Maddux and Glavine are legends of the game and deserve plaques in Cooperstown.  But the same should be said for Clemends, Bonds, and the other most dominant players of baseball's PED Era.