"The Hall of Fame isn't church"

More is going to be written about the Mitchell report concerning steroid use in baseball and this article on espn.com looks at how voters for the MLB Hall of Fame would vote for Roger Clemens if voting were held today.

The story includes this gem:

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto refuses to draw a distinction between steroid offenders and players with other black marks.

"I would vote for Bonds on the first ballot, as I would vote for Clemens, because the Hall of Fame isn't church,'' Ratto said. "It's the history of baseball, and this is part of the history of baseball. I can assure you that Bud Selig will be voted into the Hall of Fame, and he is the commissioner whose name will be linked with the steroid era by first ignoring it, then profiting from it, and finally blaming others for it.

"I know that Cap Anson is in the Hall of Fame, and he was instrumental in the creation of the color line, which is way worse than PEDs. So this discussion ends up being an excuse for people with no institutional memory or understanding to claim a moral superiority they're not really equipped to display."