TNT’s Charles Barkley was a phone-in guest on Dan LeBatard‘s 790 The Ticket show in Miami yesterday, and the recent SNL host chimed in on the topic du jour, as you might expect from the ever-opinionated Chuckster.  The below was transcribed and culled from Sports Radio Interviews :

On Mark McGwire using steroids:

œI was listening to a little bit of your conversation when you came on about the baseball situation.  There™s two things that bother me about writers.  Number one when they act like they are holier than thou.  But also this notion where this guy hasn™t been nice to us.  I don™t judge basketball players by whether they™re nice to me or not.  When I go on television my job is to talk about their basketball.  You have too many reporters and you™re definitely not one of them, crying like a little girl talking about well he hasn™t been very nice to the press.  So what?  That™s not your job.  Do your job.  Don™t act like your holier than thou and you™re protecting every detail of the game or the guy hasn™t kissed up to you all these years.

On whether or not he thinks guys who used steroids in baseball should be Hall-of-Famers:

œI think that Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens¦I think those guys should all go into the Hall-of-Fame and let me explain why.  We know there is at least one list that has 104 people right?  (Host: Yes)  Clearly there was more than 104.  My problem with the whole era is these are the only guys that are going to get penalized, the Hall-of-Famers.  All the other guys played in that era and I heard John Kruk and I like John Kruk he said ˜well I was clean.™  Well he still benefited by the financial structure.  All the players during that era all benefited through the financial structure.  But my biggest problem is, like I was saying, to penalize four guys and keep them out of the Hall-of-Fame when clearly a bunch of guys were doing it – we know of at least 104 and clearly there was more – to penalize four guys and don™t put them in the Hall-of-Fame when a bunch were doing it, I think that™s totally unfair.