The McGwire Problem

Yes, Mark McGwire will likely not be a Hall of Famer this year because of the steroids controversy. But who said he should be in the hall at all?

Compare these statistics:

	AVG	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI
McGwire	0.263	1626	252	6	583	1414
Player A	0.236	1575	240	25	443	1210
Player B	0.289	2866	488	49	384	1628
Player C	0.298	2452	373	79	382	1451
Player D	0.265	2111	350	39	398	1266
Player E	0.288	2333	444	32	399	1425

Is McGwire truly a legit Hall of Fame Candidate compared to this numbers? Especially considering that the players are

Player A: Dave Kingman
Player B: Harold Baines
Player C: Jim Rice
Player D: Dale Murphy
Player C: Andres Galarraga

None of those players are realistically considered Hall of Fame candidates for one reason or another (though Rice and Baines should be). McGwire compares statistically, in one way or another, with each of these players (and in the case of Baines and Rice, much less favorably).

Add on top of that the fact that McGwire was a below average fielder at first base, I really wonder why we are even considering the concept that McGwire is a Hall of Famer, regardless of the circumstances.