The sins of our past...

There's a saying in life: "Avoid the big mistake." We may forget to pick up the laundry, or turn off the lights after leaving the house; those are small slip-ups. We may even forget our spouse's birthday(which, depending on the spouse, could lead to an even bigger problem down the road) but I digress. However, those incidents can be quickly swept under the rug and forgotten the next day. Then there are those times in which we commit atrocities so great that they label us with a scarlet letter; that "S" is tattooed onto Rafael Palmeiro for life.

You may remember the photo above. It was from the infamous Congressional hearing in 2005 on steroid use in Major League Baseball (you know, the one in which Sammy Sosa coincidentally forgot how to speak English, or Mark McGwire not being there to "talk about the past"). Palmeiro's defiant stance on his never taking steroids was later discovered to be a lie as he was suspended for 10 games. The punishment was miniscule compared to the eternal shame of not being voted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. Even more so, he has seen his peers McGwire, Sosa, and players like Jeff Bagwell not get inducted yet; though Bagwell seems to be closer to getting voted in next year. This year, former catcher Mike Piazza, long accused to taking PEDs without any positive proof, was finally inducted and as time goes on there is hope that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Personally, I believe that regardless of PED use or not, the players who were the best of the best at their profession should be included. Palmeiro put up great numbers, but no one would ever consider him one of the best players of his era. Even if he had came out and admitted to his PED use, I don't think it would've changed the minds of the baseball writers. His story and admitting how tormented he is at the thought of not getting in should serve as a reminder of how we cannot place ourselves in situations that we know will create long term damage.

If you want to see someone who is successful, don't look at just their work ethic, look at the decisions they make day in and day out. It's those decisions that don't lead to later regret; a life filled with pain because there is no finality. For Palmeiro and countless others, his big mistake wasn't taking steroids, it was not owning up to it when he had the chance. He could've been a symbol for other players to step up and do what was right instead of focusing on their reputation.

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