Steroids, Must I Say More?

By Jason Derby · The Mainstream
Published January 26, 2010

It may be the middle of winter, but we can smell spring flowers just a few months away. Spring training for baseball is just right around the corner. Our fantasy rosters are already being adjusted for this season. Is it the smell of the freshly cut grass that leads us to think of our nation’s old pastime or is it the crack of the bat that makes us look in the air for a baseball to fly down into an outfielder’s mitt? This is what we should be thinking when we hear about the game of baseball, not the horrid memories of the steroid era of the 1990’s.

Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds.Can you tell me what these names have in common? Is there one not like the other?

Sosa went in front of the Grand Jury and said that he had a hard time speaking English to avoid admitting to steroid use. Barry Bonds was not there to testify, but he not only broke the record that McGwire set of 73 home runs in a season , his baseball cap size and body size grew dramatically over a short five to six year period. McGwire, on the other hand, spoke directly to the Grand Jury and was quoted for these epic words.

“Let’s not talk about the past.”

Three weeks ago McGwire finally came out and said that he took steroids.

McGwire has been out of the league long enough to be part of the Hall of Fame Balloting. He has the numbers to be considered for the Hall of Fame. Without steroids he still would have been in onsideratio

n. Because of the steroids he will not be voted into the Hall. He will not be voted in until the baseball purists that vote are either dead or on their deathbed. This is an era that saved the game of baseball. Without it baseball may be on the same level as the National Hockey League in television ratings. Nascar would have passed Major League Baseball as well in ratings.

So what does this leave for us to conclude?

Alex Rodriguez was found to be a steroid user in the past year. He then immediately came out and said that the allegations were true and that he was sorry for what he had done. The media and the nation then forgave him and moved on. The same is true for Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte who both were found to have used steroids in the past. If McGwire came out and admitted from the beginning that he used steroids we would have had a different situation. Instead we have a large number of players that not only covered up what they are doing, but the commissioner is looking the other way for the good of the sport.

So thank you Major League Baseball for these past fifteen years of wondering, “Is this player juiced?” or, “If I begin to root for this star player, will he shatter my dreams as a baseball fan?” It was time for a change a long time ago. Good luck with getting your reputation back.