Fergie Jenkins weighs in on MLB Hall of Fame, PED suspicions

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When the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was released last week, the first thing most people did was sound off on the suspected steroid users.

And it makes sense. The ballot is filled with guys who came under suspicion, from Barry Bonds to Roger Clemens to Cubs all-time home run leader Sammy Sosa.

Considering crystal balls don't really predict the future, there's no way of knowing if any of those suspected PED users will be voted in, which has left many of the current Hall of Famers undecided on whether to attend the ceremonies.

Cubs Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins joined "Power Alley" with Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin on MLB Network Radio Tuesday to discuss whether he planned on attending Cooperstown next summer.

Last summer, it was no question that Jenkins would attend, as former teammate and Cubs icon Ron Santo was posthumously voted into baseball's most exclusive club. But this year will be different.

"I'm waiting to see the flow of the individuals," Jenkins said. "There are 67 Hall of Famers still alive...They generally have 45-50 guys come back."

Jenkins said he would talk to guys like Al Kaline, Rollie Fingers and Gaylord Perry to gauge their stance about the 2013 Hall of Fame ceremonies.

"It's going to be a collection of guys talking to each other and making that final decision when it comes late July," he said.

The conversation then turned to the performance-enhancing drugs, and the role they've played in the game since the 1950s and '60s, when amphetamines burst onto the scene.

"I heard all these guys were taking all these different pills, but dexedrine and benzedrine are a women's diet pill. How the hell is that going to help you perform? What the hell do I want to take a women's diet pill for?" Jenkins said, eliciting a round of laughter from the show's hosts.

"But now you get into all these other drugs, the growth hormones and the steroids. There's so many different synthetics now. They make you bigger and stronger supposedly, hand-eye coordination better.

"I think when you look at some of these athletes that have been connected with the Mitchell report, maybe it did make them bigger and stronger. Or maybe because they were 30-plus years old, it added two or three years to your career. Now the suspicions are even better. I can't believe a lot of these guys are taking women's diet pills."

Listen to the complete audio here.

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