Call me soft but I am really getting tired of the all-forgiving, Mannywood-worshiping, “baseball realists” infecting the airwaves and newspapers of late. Earlier today, Jon Heyman of si.com published an article measuring the merits, Hall of Fame credentials and perspective eligibility of such noted sleazebags as ARoid, Manny, Barry and (God-help-us-all) Roger Clemens. He created his own convenient and self-righteous gauge, judging players on the extent and longevity of actualized or alleged sleaziness. Luckily, I wasn’t the only reader with a “what the deuce!?” reaction. Mole57 from New Jersey:

Steroid use should be looked at on the same level as cheating. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t need to cheat to be great — they still chose to cheat and ultimately they have disgraced the game and made a mockery of many hallowed records for purely selfish reasons. If Joe Jackson and Pete Rose aren’t allowed in, these guys shouldn’t be allowed in either.

Hear hear! Heyman represents a frighteningly simple-minded contingency of Hall of Fame voters. Erroneous postulations and beliefs that Bonds “was a Hall of Famer long before he took his first steroid,” should hold no water in this argument. These players knowingly cheated to satisfy their egos and wallets and each and every one unlucky enough to get caught, regardless of the extent or period of use, needs to be banished permanently. This isn’t to suggest that blame should not be spread to the commissioner, the owners and the fans but, really, let’s start with the guys who were sticking the needles in their asses. And anyone who suggests, due to the pervading culture of sleaziness and corruption at the time, that we should disregard a steadily expanding and overwhelming string of asterisks should go about recalibrating his or her moral compass.