What Makes a Hall of Famer?

Apart from the time qualification-five years retired, no more than 15 years on the Baseball Writers' ballot-there is only one line in the Hall of Fame's guidelines on how to judge candidates who are not on Baseball's ineligible list:
"Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
That's it. No more, no less.
Pete Rose is on the ineligible list. He won't be part of this discussion.
Mark McGwire is not on the ineligible list. He is the point of this discussion.
Big Mac used Andro. Everybody knows it. It was found in his locker during the Summer of 1998. He answered questions about it. It wasn't against Baseball's rules. Mac is suspected of using other substances. He has been accused by Jose Canseco of using anabolic steroids. His physical appearance changed significantly from his days as a skinny pitcher at USC to the years of The Great Home Run Chase. My appearance has changed significantly since college days, too, although not as impressively as McGwire's.
Mark McGwire never failed a drug test. He wasn't given one. Because whatever he and Sammy Sosa were doing in 1998, Baseball loved it. Cal Ripken had done a remarkable job rescuing Baseball after the 1994 debacle. Big Mac and Sammy took it to new heights in 1998. Attendance soared, merchandise sales went berserk, tickets just disappeared wherever the two sluggers showed up. And we showed up early. 15,000, 20,000, 25,000 were going to the parks for batting practice every day that the Cardinals were playing. Do the math: when crowds show up in those numbers at 5 pm, you've got them for the night. Concessions, souvenirs, t shirts, jerseys, bats, games for the kids, everything for sale at the ball park did land-office business.
Nobody wanted to ask any questions.
It was too much fun, so we fans didn't want to know.
It was too good for business, so management didn't want to know.
It was making all of his bone-headed decisions recede in everyone's memory, so Bud Selig sure didn't want to know.
And the Baseball Writers had the best story of their generation, so they didn't report on the whispers, the accusations, what they all claim to have known in retrospect.
Mac retired after the 2001 season because he could no longer play every day, rather than collect what I believe was another $30 Million in guaranteed money that would have been paid to him if he had been an everyday player, an infrequent pinch-hitter, or a name on the Disabled List. That's what I call integrity.
Mark and Sammy exulted in sharing the stage in 1998. The reactions of one to the other's exploits were amazing. The Cubs', The Cubs', reaction to Mark's 62nd, and his sharing it with Roger Maris' family were moments indelibly imprinted in my mind. That's what I call sportsmanship.
Mark gave and gives his money and his time on behalf of abused children. That's what I call character.
He single-handedly kept the Cardinals' attendance at World Series year levels when they were a very average team. And while a very private man, he endured the endless media demands at every stop. That's what I call contributing to your team.
His 586 Home Runs rank 7th all-time. His .982 OPS ranks 11th all-time. That's performance, by any standard.
Does the question of steroid use so influence the character issue so as to keep McGwire out of the Hall of Fame? That's the only question. That's the only argument. And don't give me his lifetime batting average. When Mac retired in 2001, everybody-that's EVERYBODY-assumed that three first ballot inductees would be announced this January. Is the character of a man who was never tested for steroids so sullied by an albeit poor performance before a congressional committee that he can't be included with those already in the Hall of Fame?
Assume Mac used steroids. Does that make him worse than Cap Anson, the man universally credited/blamed with instituting Baseball's color line that would stand from the 1800's until Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey started the process of erasing it in 1947?
Assume Mac used steroids. Does that make him worse than Ty Cobb? Cobb went into the stands and beat a heckler who had been born without arms. Cobb slapped a black elevator operator, and when the hotel's black nightwatchman tried to intervene, Cobb stabbed him for his efforts.
Assume Mac used steroids. Does that make him worse than committed alcoholics Jimmie Foxx, Hack Wilson and Grover Cleveland Alexander? Worse than suspended gambler Leo Durocher? Worse than the skirt-chasing, beer-swilling, gorging to the point of being unable to play Babe Ruth? Worse than any number of amphetamine-popping players from the 60's and 70's who also never tested positive because they weren't tested either?
Rafael Palmeiro changed the terms of his debate when he tested positive. If Bonds tested positive for amphetamines, that changes his position. But Mark McGwire retired before testing came in. And one of our leading principles as Americans has always been that a person cannot be prosecuted with laws that were enacted after the fact.
Mark McGwire may well have used steroids. In fact, he probably did. But even if he did, there are far, far worse characters already enshrined in Cooperstown, and I haven't heard the Defenders of Purity in the Baseball Writers' Association of America calling for a purge of all the bad actors in Baseball's history.
Big Mac belongs in Cooperstown. And all the writers, executives and fans who now say otherwise are nothing but hypocrites.