The Tainted American Pastime

My first baseball memory was the 1986 World Series featuring the New York Mets vs the Boston Red Sox. These were great games, with great players. Roger Clemens in his prime pitching for the Red Sox, and Dwight Gooden pitching lights out for the Mets. It didn't stop there, great hitters like Wade Boggs, and Jim Rice, Darryl Strawberry and a first baseman who became infamous in a world series that will never be forgotten at least not by me.
To me that was some great baseball games, but something happened along the way something that will always be remembered, the steroid era. When it started, that question may never be answered did the great Bambino take an extra substance. Probably not, those guys didn't have the physic that these baseball players have now. Maybe a man named Jose Canseco led the steroid revolution. Baseball Fans were introduced to this beast of a man in 1986 his first full season with Oakland A's. He made quite a splash hitting 31 homeruns and 117 RBIs. This man was inhuman, or was he a cheater. Well we all know the answer to that since he now calls himself the godfather of steroids in baseball. He may have not introduced steroids to baseball but he did make it into an art.
Almost 24 years later since Canseco's first MLB game, steroids has become front and center in the sports world. Instead of people talking about pennant races, we are talking about cheaters that have disgraced a sport that is known as our national pastime. Sure baseball has never been a pure sport we have our number of cheaters in the past. Pitchers that doctored baseballs to a Black Sox scandal in 1919, baseball has had many black eyes but steroids has dominated them all. Steroids gave baseball one of the greatest homerun races ever. Sammy Sosa vs Mark McGwire they both broke the single season homerun record, they were also users. That homerun record then broken by Barry Bonds also a user. Then the floodgates opened up thanks to that Canseco guy, he turned out to be very honest or very desperate for money, and so he decided to write a book about how he injected all his friends (baseball heros to us) with steroids. The heads started rolling from Alex Rodriquez, and Roger Clemens, to Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz and many more players that we know off and many more to come, maybe even a slugger named Pujols.
The question I have is, why? Why risk it. Manny has natural talent and so does Alex, so why throw everything you work so hard for away. Is it for the money after all big numbers equal big contracts. But who pays these contracts is it the team owners or is it the hard working fans. The ones that sweat all day for a meager check at the end of the week, the ones that work hard to make an honest buck. The ones that pay for tickets to baseball games even though we know we can't afford but always sacrifice something just to see our heros play. Yea we pay so that these cheaters can make millions.
I say boycott these cheaters, boo them in every game, even if they play for your team. Root for your team but boo these cheaters that wear the same uniform you love to see win. They make millions the dishonest way and if they are caught they get suspended for 50 games. If we do something dishonest we end up doing 5 to 10 in a state prison. Atheletes are looked up as role models whether they embrace the role or not. To kids these are their heros, what a disappointment to find out that your heros were cheaters.
Rumor has it that Bud Selig was well informed about this steroid mess, but he did nothing. 1994 was a bad year in baseball a labor deal counld not be reached between the players association and owners. On August 12, 1994 a work stoppage occurred, the rest of the season was cancelled including playoffs and world series. The following year fans were fed up with the rich baseball players and rich owners. The fans united to boycott games, attendance began to drop, tv ratings were at an all time low. This lasted until the infamous homerun race, sure Cal Ripken Jr's history making was great for baseball he was the games purest player and a great role model. But after the consecutive games played streak was broken and after the great Ripken retired, baseball needed another boost to keep the fans interested. The homerun race brought fans back to baseball and attendance went up, and continue to rise. But not without a price, the price of tradition. Which ball player will make it to the hall of fame from this era. It will not be the great homerun sluggers, most of them have failed drug test. Bob Gibson stated in an interview that these players should be allowed in the hall of fame but with an asterisk. I say no, these players should never be remembered everything they did on the field was a lie. There was no natural skill involved, only a drug that gave these players the strength of a power hitting freak. inhumans that broke homerun records that had stood for a long time by players that loved the purity of the game. Batting titles that were won with dishonesty and world series that were won with players that used.
I agree with Tori Hunter release all the names or destroy list. Baseball is being held hostage by this list, they will never be able to move forward from this as long as players names are released every three months, the rest of the season will take a backseat to steroids. Now, while writing this blog, I ran into an article. Mr. Jose Canseco was interviewed about Manny Ramirez's and David Ortiz's failing drug test. Canseco stated that he was not surprised but boy he sure didn't stop there now he has implicated what could be baseballs biggest nightmare, a recent hall of famer might be included in the list of 104 players. Sport blogs are running stories of who it might be and alot of the sport sites are pointing to the great Cal Ripken Jr. Yes I am shocked, to even have his name associated with a performance enhancing drug. But as Mr. Canseco states I am also not surprised as well. Were we surprised when Sammy Sosa failed a drug test, no we weren't. Then Mark McGwire pleading the fifth in Congress, yea that did shake us a bit. What about Barry Bonds he kept breaking records even when everyone knew he was using. He broke the career homerun record now that should have a very big asterisk next to it, or just be erased entirely. Then the knight in shining armor came into town riding on a white horse he was hitting homeruns at a record pace. Oh but this horse was tainted, as we found out. Alex "the savior" Rodriguez failed a drug test and a savior he was no more. Now who do fans trust and what do we do to these records should we act like they never existed. I don't respect these records they were very undeserving. And the question still looms who is this hall of famer. if Canseco is telling the truth and why lie when it comes to steroids he is the one riding the white horse to save the purity of baseball. Who would have thought that, certainly not me and surely not Bud Selig he told the media not to believe Mr. Canseco, yes he is slimy, self centered and a selfish human being, but to the fans he has brought out the truth even if we couldn't handle it.