Jim Caple is a Hall of Fame voter. Remember that when you read this snippet from a debate between Caple and fellow ESPN baseball writer Jerry Crasnick, where the two debate the HOF candidacy of Mark McGwire:

Crasnick: I’m afraid of saying “yes” on a guy like McGwire only to regret my decision later. Does that make sense?

Caple: Yes, it does, though really, I don’t know what we’re going to find out at this point. I mean, they weren’t specifically banned by baseball at the time. And to me, that makes all the difference. (And no, just being an illegal drug isn’t the same thing as being banned. For one thing, I believe a lot of players who took illegal drugs are in the Hall of Fame.) [italics are mine]

Good point Jim. Except that steroids were banned at the time.

MLB banned steroids in 1991. You should know that, Jim. It’s your job to know that.

Here is a history lesson, courtesy of Houston Chronicle baseball writer Richard Justice:

Commissioner Fay Vincent sent the clubs a memo in 1991 reminding them that players were forbidden from taking any illegal substance. He specifically mention steroids in the memo and encouraged the clubs to take a get-tough policy on players thought to be using steroids.What could a team have done if it suspected a player of using steroids? Probably nothing.Vincent simply wanted to be on the record as letting the clubs know that steroid use was against the rules and that they shouldn’t be afraid to confront a player.There was no testing for steroids until 2003 (after being part of the 2002 labor agreement).The notion that Bonds wasn’t breaking any rules is ridiculous. He was. He knew he was.

So there you go, Jim. Steroids have been BANNED and ILLEGAL since 1991.

But, hey, that means that for the first five years of his career, McGwire was (probably) merely taking illegal substances. But nothing banned, God forbid.

You know, the truth is I find a lot of Caple’s writing funny. But when he goes and writes things that demonstrate a lack on understanding of the game, it just makes it that much harder to stomach the omissions of Keith Law and Rob Neyer from the BBWAA.

PS. If you want to read a really good debate, check out the give and take between Gammons and Stark on the merits of Tim Raines’ HOF candidacy.

ESPN.com writer Jim Caple has caught a lot of grief for his prediction that Barry Bonds won’t break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. Bonds, if you haven’t been paying attention, has been red hot lately, making it look all but certain that he will break Aaron’s mark this year.

But this morning, Caple looks pretty smart.

The New York Times is reporting that Kirk Radomski, the former Mets clubhouse assistant who has admitted selling performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of current and former professional baseball players, met last Wednesday with the federal grand jury that is investigating Barry Bonds for perjury.

That’s right, Barry — you may be going to prison yet.

From the New York Times:

Radomski had been charged April 12, but a federal judge sealed the case until he spoke to the grand jury to protect Radomski from being intimidated or influenced before he spoke to that grand jury, according to The Associated Press, which cited records filed in a San Francisco court.

Barry better keep hitting those moon shots at a brisk clip, because the feds are coming after him and they’re gonna get him. And you can bet that the second charges are filed, Barry’s gonna get a call from Bud, who will be all too eager to suspend the slugger and save baseball’s last sliver of credibility.

And you know who will be smiling the widest then? Jim Caple.