If you recall, one of repercussions after the 1995 strike ended with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was that all players who were scabs (players who crossed the picket line during the strike for an opportunity to play) would no longer be members of the Union.  What does that mean?  It means all merchandise revenue, pension plans, and union voting was lost for them. Kevin Millar formally of the Red Sox was honored by the organization after their first championship in 2004 because the official MLB merchandise for their championship did not have Millar listed (because he was a scab in '95).   The organization had new shirts printed up independently with his name included on the team roster.

As you can see, these players are still able to live the lives of ballplayers, take part in the sport and be apart of championships, they just reap none of the rewards.

What i propose for proven steroid and HGH (from when it became illegal on) users is something similar.  I believe all players caught should not only be suspended according to what Major League Baseball mandated already but should also have their name erased from all individual all-time record lists.  Many now would argue that they did what they did and it shouldn't be taken away from them and my response to that is that i agree.  I believe they should be allowed to keep all statistics accumulated, just not have it listed on any individual record lists.  If you looked up baseball's all-time leaders in wins for a starting pitcher, Roger Clemens would not be featured in the 8th position but if you specifically looked up Roger Clemen's stats, his 354 wins would be there in plain view.

What exactly does this do? It acknowledges that these players accomplished what they did but by taking them off the all-time lists, it takes away the credit and attention they might relish (Bonds?!?) for their accomplishments.  Furthermore, they should receive the same treatment scabs receive albeit they can be union members, they just cannot receive any economic benefits from merchandise sales and considering they are baseball veterans, they should also receive a reduced pension plan (but still get something).  The reduced pension plan punishes past players who might not care about the credit or the merchandise sales (because they're now retired.  Right Dykstra?). Reducing their plan will show all future retirees that there is a consequence for this actions even after leaving the game.

To Sum it up, Caught Steroid/HGH users would

So those are our thoughts here at Gotham Times. Its asterisk free but still gets the job done IMO.