There are few baseball players who I can say I have the ultimate respect. I feel I can put Hank Aaron in that category. He put in his time. He played hard and played well. He lived his life without scandal.
But I have to disagree with him this time.
Aaron has publically said (in front of a banquet of Associated Press writers) he wants the list of players who tested positive in 2003 for PEDs to be released to the public.
Aaron has been a long time and vocal opponent of use of steroids and PEDs. He has his reasons for releasing the list. His reasons are admirable, no doubt. With the release of the list, he reasons the use of PEDs will diminish among current players.
The thought though, that a presumed PED user broke his all-time record most likely lingers in his mind.
I still have to respectfully disagree. These tests were given privately and with the agreement that no other entity would have access to them. To this point, every name that you have heard up until now, has been an illegal breach of contract.
I know it isnât popular. It is a very populist idea to think that we should find out who they are and punish them in whichever manner possible. The fact is that there were no penalties for a positive result for the test back in 2003. The MLB needs to respect this. If MLB doesnât honor that, good luck in trying to gain the playersâ trust back.
To what end would it serve to release the list? We canât rewrite history. I suppose, as some have suggested we could restrict the Hall of Fame to only the âcleanâ ones (and measures of the like) but in my opinion, that would plunge baseball into dark, divisive, bitter scandal all for what is a relatively small number of players.
MLB and the Playersâ Union have a system currently in place for dealing with this issue. Letâs focus on making sure this works and not go on witch hunts.