Hall of Fame says fans can make own decision on PEDs, exhibit possibly in works
By Paul Pabst
In March of 2008 Jeff Idelson of the Baseball Hall of Fame told Dan Patrick that the HOF would consider an exhibit or display to deal with the steroid era. Dan asked, half-joking, if the HOF would accept items for the display from former Roger Clemens’ trainer Brian McNamee. Here is what Idelson said in 2008 on our show:
“There’s no doubt that in time we will address steroids and human growth hormones in our museum. It’s a part of the game,” Idelson said. “It’s a lousy part of the game, but it’s part of the game’s history; but when we do tell the story, it will be in the context perhaps of good medicine versus bad medicine. It will be done in an educational way. Would we accept artifacts or items from Brian McNamee? I don’t know, I mean if it allows us to tell the story in an educational way, we’d consider it. But if it’s just to have, I doubt we’d take them.”
I checked in with the HOF today and here is the update on this from Brad Horn, Senior Director of Communications:
“Visitors to the Hall of Fame and Museum are presented with text in our Today’s Game exhibit that gives them an overview that this ‘era’ of the game is one in which performance-enhancing drugs are prevalent. Individual labels do not make reference to steroid suspicions or admissions, even if the item on display is from an achievement that was clouded by this issue. Ultimately, visitors are to make their own decisions about the history we present.
As to an exhibit, the story continues to evolve. An exhibit does not have a timetable at this point, but clearly the evolution of sports medicine — legal and illegal — has had a profound effect on the game of the last 20 years. When this exhibit comes to fruition, it will cover the stories and elements of how the game changed during this time period. Again, no timetable for this.”