Hall of Famer Goose Gossage thinks that baseball players who used steroids should be banned from the Hall of Fame. In an interview with the Associated Press, Gossage said, “I definitely think that they [steroid users] cheated and what does the Hall of Fame consist of? Integrity. Cheating is not part of integrity.”
Gossage is right. Integrity matters. We deserve to watch professional athletes who are competing honestly and not at an unfair advantage over their competitors. More importantly, we also have a responsibility to our children. They should not see professional athletes succeed, and be rewarded for, undeserved achievements.
We should dissuade, rather than encourage, our children to use steroids. Steroids are readily available on the internet and pose serious, potentially fatal, health risks to children in Illinois and throughout the country. Yet, most children believe that they are invincible. If there are no health or professional consequences for famous athletes, many children will believe that they will have the same luck. Unfortunately, that is not going to be true for all kids and some will develop significant medical and legal problems from steroid use.
Steroid use has tainted Major League Baseball, but now Major League Baseball has the opportunity to help our children learn right from wrong and the opportunity to protect our children from the dangerous consequences of steroid use by refusing to reward ball players whose record depends, at least in part, on the use of steroids.
