PB Post: Forgive McGwire? Some old-timers won’t — but others admit steroids might have tempted them

An Eyeball-Poppin’ Load of Excitement and Action! This Stuff’ll Kill Ya…or Maybe it Won’t!

Rico Carty played with Hank Aaron for eight seasons in Milwaukee and Atlanta.

“Hank Aaron will always be the home run king,” Carty said. “Nobody can take that away from him. I don’t think (players who used steroids) should be in the Hall of Fame. We deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because we were clean.”

...Former Yankees Mickey Rivers and Jay Johnstone also won’t condemn players from that era.

“It don’t bother me,” Rivers said. “When I was playing, if some guy said, ‘Any advantage I can get,’ I’d use. I’d use anything that would help me.”

Johnstone called Mc-Gwire a “legitimate” home-run hitter, citing the 49 homers he hit as a rookie.

“I don’t condone it but I can’t hold it against them,” he said. “Had it been available when I played, would I have been attempted to do that when (other guys) were doing it and putting up numbers that I’m not? I don’t know.”