The Biz of Baseball: Baseball Hall of Fame Considering “Steroid Exhibit”

Take that Yogi Berra Thrift Shop!

Today, Jeff Idelson, the vice-president of communications and education for the Hall of Fame was on the Dan Patrick Show, where Patrick brought up the topic.

“Have you thought about a steroid exhibit in the Hall of Fame?” Patrick asked. “Brian McNamee says to you, ‘Jeff, I’ve got some vials, I’ve got syringes, I’ve got HGH… I’d like to donate it to the Hall of Fame.’”

“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,” replied Idelson. “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.”

The comments by Idelson come after it has been reported that Barry Bonds’ record setting 756th homerun ball owned by Marc Ecko, and branded with an asterisk, should be on display in the Hall of Fame museum by Opening Day.

“We’ll display it, but the text accompanying the ball will cover when it was hit and how it ended up in Cooperstown,” Idelson, told reporters. “It’s meant to be educational.