In this warped society of ours, steroids are illegal and bad while alcohol is legal and ok or even good, in the view of those who consume it.

But I am confused over recent events. Let me see if I have this right. Mark McGwire admitted to using steroids during his career and apologized for his wrongdoing. He has been vilified for his admission, though Cardinals’ fans cheered him lustily.

Miguel Cabrera admitted to being an alcoholic and apologized for his all-night binge on the final weekend of last season, but he is forgiven and eagerly welcomed back to his team, the Tigers.

Cabrera’s abuse of a legal substance – his blood alcohol level was triple Michigan’s legal limit – very likely cost the Tigers the American League Central championship.

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The comment seemed strange coming from a general manager as sharp and as intelligent as Billy Beane.

“The way the system is right now,” the Oakland Athletics’ executive was quoted as telling mlb.com, “there really is no difference between a $75 million and $40 million payroll. I think a lot of small-market clubs look at that and ask, ‘Why pay $75 million when $40 million will buy me as many wins?’”

The comment seemed strange because so-called small-market teams (I prefer small-revenue teams) have exceeded Beane’s $40 million in recent years and have benefited from the expenditure. Consider these developments:

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There is nothing in sports that creates the controversy and the debate provoked by voting for the Hall of Fame. More than a week after the results of the latest voting were announced, I was still getting e-mail about the results. Everyone is an expert, fans and bloggers alike. They all know better than the people who actually vote in the election, and they eagerly tell us so.

A reader of this site told me in an e-mail that my ballot, which I disclosed before the results were announced, “contains votes for players I do not believe deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and you failed to vote for players who clearly deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.”

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