I’m sick and tired of all the steroids talk, records talk, Hall of Fame talk. The A-Rod doping story quickly reached critical mass and baseball season is still a month and a half away. Interminable debate on talk radio and the interwebs regarding validity of records or A-Rod’s true Hall of Fame credentials is nauseating and distracting.

The Hall of Fame should lionize Baseball, not statistics. While it represents the Great Ones that statistics have already weeded out, it should also pay homage to those that have greatly impacted the game. It should not be a tomb to morality, but a celebration of a game that people love. Cheaters never prosper. I don’t need sports to tell me that. My mother did when I was very little.

Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, Mark McGwire. These guys deserve to be in the Hall because of how they impacted the game.

Joe Jackson was the finest pure hitter of his generation, possibly all-time. A Pre-Babe superstar. Pete Rose played his guts out day after night and managed to scrounge out more hits than anyone who’s ever played the game. Mark McGwire electrified an entire country during one magical summer and brought Baseball back to prominence.

These guys deserve to be honored by The Hall of Fame because of what they did for the game’s fans. The game’s real estate in our hearts. Yes they have flaws and we should acknowledge those flaws. But let history shower scorn on those that damaged the integrity of the game. Hell, give it its own section on the Wikipedia page. We still loved them when they played Baseball. We were still awed by their skill. I think its important to not forget them.

There are several others I feel belong in the Hall and among those is A-Rod. Shit, If A-Rod were to retire tomorrow he should be in the Hall of Fame.