MLB legend Joe Morgan once spoke out against the inclusion of known steroid users in the Hall of Fame
In November 2017, the late Cincinnati Reds megastar and HOFer Joe Morgan spoke out against the inclusion of known steroid users in the Hall of Fame. In an email to the Baseball Writers Association of America, the former second baseman—who played 22 seasons in the MLB—asked them to refrain from endorsing candidates who had ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
Here is a part of the letter that Joe Morgan wrote in protest of steroid-fuelled players.
"I think the Hall of Fame is special. There is a sanctity to being elected to the Hall. It is revered. It is the hardest Hall of Fame to enter, of any sport in America. We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don't belong here. Players who failed drug tests, admitted using steroids, or were identified as users in Major League."
He added:
"Steroid use put Baseball through a tainted era where records were shattered. It was a steroidal farce. It is no accident that those records held up for decades until the steroid era began, and they haven't been broken since the steroid era ended. Sadly, steroids worked."
Joe Morgan wrote a letter asking Hall of Fame voters not to support PED users dlvr.it/Q27dP3 https://t.co/Kvry8xsWBk
"Joe Morgan wrote a letter asking Hall of Fame voters not to support PED users." - SportsRadio 740
One of the best second basemen in MLB history was Joe Morgan. In 1990, he was admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame, six years after his retirement from the big leagues.
When Joe Morgan believed that Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame
In 2013, MLB legend Joe Morgan spoke up saying his former teammate Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.
In August 1989, a permanent ban from baseball was imposed on Rose as a result of allegations that he bet on baseball games while managing and playing for the Cincinnati Reds. He was accused of impropriety for allegedly placing bets on his own squad.
Two years later, it was announced that players on the "permanently ineligible" list were officially prohibited from being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I think if you’re going to allow guys with PEDs on the ballot, then we have to allow him to be on the ballot. Let’s face it, he’s been punished for 24 years. I think they have to take a second look at Pete now that this has come out," said Morgan defending Rose.
Pete Rose gets hit No. 4,192 to break the all time record, 1985 https://t.co/kbTWKcXoFm
"Pete Rose gets hit No. 4,192 to break the all time record, 1985." - Baseball In Pics
In 2004, Pete Rose finally admitted that he had wagered on baseball and the Reds after years of public denial. Baseball is still divided over Rose's potential re-election and induction to the Hall of Fame.
Clearly, Joe Morgan's support for Pete Rose stood in contrast to his 2017 statements about the exclusion of PED users from the HOF. Baseball has been negatively impacted by Rose's gamble as much as by players who have resorted to steroids.