Mark McGwire makes his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot this winter.
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Some of the Cardinals fans responses:
"I have his autographed jersey in my basement and I thought it was going to be very valuable in the future," Gastman said, "but I'm not as proud of it anymore.""He was good for St. Louis but I was really disappointed at his performance at the [congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball]. It left a lot of Cardinals fans with suspicions when he didn't talk about the past. There is too much suspicion for him to get in on the first vote. I'd like to see the smoke clear.""He never was caught doing anything. Everyone gets a fair shake in this country and he was never convicted of anything. If there are any Americans out there without a skeleton in their closets, they aren't human. He was a great ambassador for the game and always a competitor. He's somebody who should be admired instead of having his name dragged through the mud. He resurrected baseball.""I'm a baseball purist and it was heartbreaking to see him in front of Congress and not willing to wash his hands of the whole situation. I don't know how I'd vote. I'm a Cardinals fan but the game comes before any single player, and I would have to say 'no' until he comes clean. In 1998 I was as big a fan of his as anybody. Everybody in St. Louis was on his side. But that whole deal before Congress really changed a lot of people's opinion on the subject because he wasn't willing to say no, he didn't use steroids."