Mark McGwire

Following the ejection of San Diego Padres manager Andy Green, former single-season home run king Mark McGwire served as an acting manager Tuesday night for the first time in his major league coaching career. 

Green was tossed in the third inning of Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates after arguing a balk call against Padres pitcher Colin Rea. That resulted in McGwire being elevated from bench coach to manager for the remainder of the game.

In an era where every player who has Hall of Fame-worthy numbers is scrutinized under the harshest of microscopes, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have become the steroid era figureheads, examples of what happens when your career is tainted with suspected or proven use of performance-enhancing drugs—but that shouldn't deny them access to the hallowed grounds of Cooperstown, NY.

For years, we all have known the day was coming when the stars from the steroids era would be on the Hall of Fame ballot. They all should get in. None of them should ever get in. Believing there is one answer that will resolve this problem in a way that makes complete sense is reserved for the Skip Baylesses of the world. The rest of us know this situation is far too complicated and that there is just no easy way to make it right.

The 2013 MLB Hall of Fame class has been all over the news lately.

The announcement comes Wednesday, Jan. 9., and this year marks the first time that the some of the game's greatest but also most controversial players—Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Curt Schilling—are eligible to be elected.

MLB Network has brought in everybody and their mother to give their two cents on who should be elected and how the era should be evaluated based on the prevalence of performance enhancing drugs.

Love him or hate him, Alex Rodriguez will find himself among the greats at Cooperstown some day. Although it is a dark time for Major League Baseball, we need to learn to accept that the Steroid Era happened, and the only thing we can do about it is to prevent it from happening again.

I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan. All of my friends know this. I have been since the day my favorite player, Mark McGwire got traded to them in 1997. The next year Big Mac broke Roger Maris’ age old HR record.

The biggest issue in baseball is the usage of steroids. Bud Selig and the rest of the league have become more wish-washy and flip-floppy than any politician on the face of the planet. Implementing a ban on performance enhancing drugs is only a fraction of what the league needs to do to keep PEDs out of Major League Baseball.

While baseball is known as America's pastime, the sport is no stranger to controversy.

Facing on-and-off-field scandals since before the dinosaurs walked the earth, Major League Baseball continues to battle its tarnished reputation.

In a sport that requires class and natural skill, rather technique, many players have tried to cheat the system.

From the most prolific home-run hitters in history using steroids during their primes to players purposely losing games to win bets, baseball has faced arguably the most controversy of any professional sport.

Last season, Jose Bautista shocked the baseball world by coming out of nowhere to launch 54 home runs as a member of the Blue Jays, setting a franchise record, and leading all of baseball in longballs.

In the process, he registered the 42nd season in which a player has hit at least 50 home runs. It is a feat achieved by only 26 different players, and is one of the most revered clubs in all of professional sports.

Just as many kids growing up in the late-80's and 90's, I had a huge collection of baseball cards. This was a few years before it began to cost more for a pack of cards than it did for a gallon of milk. It was also when people collected ball-cards in hopes they would be lucky enough to pull out a card of their childhood hero.