What I hate is, the story that will emerge from the Hall of Fame class elected in January will be McGwire's election or unelection, instead of two guys that definately not only deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but were of good character.

Instead of Andro and steroids, we should be celebrating Tony Gwynn, not only the best hitter of the 1990s, but hes in my short list for greatest hitters in baseball history. Certainly I can't be the only who believes that if the 1994 strike hadn't killed that season, he would have broken the .400 mark. Still, a record-tying 8 NL Batting titles? Younger, I made jokes at Gwynn's also-famous weight(makes me wonder if free food was part of his sponsorship contract with DENNY's), but the man still earned 5 Gold Gloves in the outfield.

Nevermind the fact that he helped finance the recent renovation of the baseball stadium for the University of San Diego, Gwynn's alma mater. Besides being the school's current baseball coach, the school named the stadium after Gwynn.

Then there's Cal Ripken Jr. Sure, The Home Run race of 1998 put new life and interest into baseball, but it was the "IronMan"'s consecutive-game-breaking streak of September, 1995 that began the repair of the severly damaged reputation that baseball held.

Though unfortunately at times, that record of his does tend to overshadow his impact on baseball. Two-time American League MVP. AL Rookie of the Year. 1991 All-Star MVP and Home Run Derby Champion, 1 World Series title, and the fact he became a prototype that will influence a new generation of power-hitters who also happened to play short-stop. Certainly, guys like A-Rod, Tejada, etc. have come from his influence.