Sure, but we're not talking about sentencing criminals. We're talking about enshrining players into the hall of fame. A lot of people bring up the message you're sending by allowing Bonds, Clemens, etc. into the hall. What message are you sending when you say some banned substances and practices are ok but others aren't? (ironically "greenies", the banned substance that is ok to take, are much worse for you medically than steroids)
Use whatever metaphor you want - things are still never black and white. And I realize you can't be perfect and no line drawn will please everyone. But you can still try. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens played in the same era as Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Maddux. You can't, in my opinion, include both and you can't exclude both. So you try to draw a line somewhere in between.
