Bunning: Steroid users should be kept out of Hall of Fame

FORT MITCHELL (AP) - Athletes who use steroids should be kept out of the Baseball Hall of Fame and have their records nullified, U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning said.

Bunning, R-Ky., a Hall of Fame pitcher, said players “who cheated, disobeyed the rules,” don't belong in the Hall of Fame. His remarks came last week to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce forum.

About 500,000 teenagers use steroids because they see professional athletes doing so, Bunning said. That makes eliminating steroid use in professional sports an important goal, he said.

“They looked at the professional world and saw there were very few penalties,” Bunning said after the chamber meeting. “If you stop it at the professional level, I think it will filter down.”

Allegations of steroid use have dominated sports news in recent months. San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds faces a federal investigation into whether he lied to a grand jury about using steroids.

Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France bicycle race, tested positive for steroids, as well as five-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones, who tested positive for steroids this summer at the U.S. Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis.

Bunning, who pitched in the Major Leagues for 17 years, said if professional baseball doesn't take action to punish athletes who use illegal drugs, Congress should consider repealing the game's antitrust exemption.

Congress backed off from passing legislation after Major League Baseball and its Players Union reached an agreement to toughen rules relating to the use of steroids.

---

Information from: The Cincinnati Post, http://www.cincypost.com