Because today is the 25th anniversary of the Ryne Sandberg game (something I’ll admit to not really knowing about), I watched the video of it. This is the beauty of my generation, stuff that happened a few months before I was born is readily available on the Internet.

One of the most interesting things in that clip — which, even as a Sox fan, I was pretty awestruck by — is how damn skinny everyone is. The other hitters on Cubs that come to the dish before Sandburg look like middle schoolers; they look nothing like major league baseball players. 1984, of course, is just a touch before steroids starting seeping into the game.

So knowing that Sandburg’s era of dominance was far different than Sammy Sosa’s, here’s what he had to say on ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy” show this morning:

“They use the word ‘integrity’ in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in,” Sandberg said.

[ ... ]

“I was around Sammy for about five years before I retired, and there wasn’t anything going on then,” Sandberg said. “I did admire the hard work he put in. He was one of the first guys down to the batting cage, hitting extra. I figured he was working out hard in the offseason to get bigger. It was just happening throughout the game, that even myself was blinded by what was really happening, maybe starting in the ‘98 season.

[ ... ]

Sandberg said that punishment should include being banned from Cooperstown.

“It’s something that’s against the law and against society,” Sandberg said. “It was cheating in the sport.”

Sandberg makes plenty of good points here, and it’s hard to not agree with him. But it’s also hard not to look at how many of the guys tainted by steroids were also great players without them — Barry Bonds, for starters — so how do you decipher here?

I don’t know. But, Mark McGwire hasn’t gotten much love from voters. It will be interesting to see if others entangled with steroids will.