This week in baseball, #roiding and #Cooperstown

While Baseball Writers of America Association Hall of Fame squabbled over if some writers weren't practicing steroid holier than thou stances in discussing the eventual entry, or not, to Cooperstown of the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Pudge Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and others, I unpacked what was going on behind the scenes.

Part of that is squabbles over the size the Hall of Fame should be — the classic stances being "big Hall" and "small Hall." Yours truly is definitely a small Hall type.

That said, let's proceed to look at what's at stake.

First is how American myth and American reality collide in Cooperstown. Both big Hall and small Hall voters and fans have points to stand on and points to concede here.

Second, if we are going to consider voting some of these players in, I not only say it's not being "holier than thou," I insist there are good reasons for some confession by players (and others). And, here, I look at the degrees of confessional a few players have offered.

Third, I blast out of the water the idea of a "steroid wing" at Cooperstown.

Fourth, contra the wailing of big Hall types about an ever-worsening backlog, I clearly show that if you're a small Haller like me who also has a principled "authenticity" stance on roiding, there really isn't that much of a backlog. And in doing so, upset a few fans of Vladimir Guerrero, at least.

Fifth, I question the authenticity of some big Hallers who pull out the "holier than thou" cries against small Hallers, especially, again, small Hallers with a strong stand on roiding.