A-Rod and Steroids in Baseball

With Alex Rodriguez’s admission today that he took steroids from 2001 to 2003, I felt compelled to blog about this topic.

If you know my family, then you know we love baseball. Misty and I both love the sport and Shawn Jr. is a very good baseball player. We spend many spring, summer and fall weekends watching baseball games. Our family number is 13. Not solely because of A-Rod but he was an influence. Shawn Jr. wore number 13 (because of A-Rod) before we even had a “family sports number.” When the story broke, Jr. was a little sad about it. I could see it on his face. This is a kid that loves baseball. Not that he ever really "looked up" to A-Rod - we have talked plenty about A-Rod’s shortcomings - but Jr. (as well as almost every other baseball fan) really admires what A-Rod has been able to do on the baseball field. Now all of those accomplishments are up for question.

I personally have never loved A-Rod. But he was my hope. After the sting of Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds started to fade away - I was cheering for A-Rod. He was the clean guy that could wash the homerun records clean. A-Rod was my hope that a huge slugger from my generation was legitimate, without question. To make it that much better (or worse) A-Rod is maybe the best of all time! He has speed, hits for power, hits for average and plays good defense. It makes me mad that he, too, is now forever tainted. This cast a huge shadow over all of baseball (just like the Mark McGuire steroid scandal).

I am glad it came out - but I hate that it is true.

Looks like Jose Canseco was right - again. In his most recent book he alleged that he introduced A-Rod to a steroids dealer.

My friend Scott (who is a really smart baseball fan) had the following observations on this topic:

“It's pretty sad for all the kids who admire(d) him. We're a forgiving country and people will appreciate his admission. I think he will get into the Hall of Fame someday, but I don't think it will happen on the first ballot.

It's sad that now everyone is under suspicion. Who knows who the other 103 were. Ripken? Jeter? I hope the entire list comes out some day. It's unfairly tainting the 700 or so who did not test positive. Side note - it is amazing that 104 tested positive when they knew the 2003 test was coming!”

This is almost exactly what Curt Shilling said on his blog “Shocked, You Just Can’t Be Anymore.” For the record, I don’t think Ripken or Jeter would ever do steroids. But I guess Scott is right – you just never know.

I think baseball is strong enough to withstand this. But with Bonds, A-Rod and Roger Clemens all tainted, baseball brightest stars are now shining examples of cheating. Like all sports, MLB is defined by its stars. This will always be viewed as the steroid era and it will hurt baseball forever.

I semi-jokingly tell my friends that smart sports fans, are baseball fans first. Not that I don’t like other sports, but baseball is my first love - a thinking man’s game. It is slow and deliberate. You need to know the history, statistics and players to really enjoy the game. What does this have to do with steroids and A-Rod? Well, baseball is obsessed with statistics. Baseball is a sport that does not innovate. The sport has attempted to remain basically unchanged over the years. It is called “America's pastime.” The rules are the same and very little technology has been introduced. ANY change in baseball is looked upon with an extremely skeptical eye. Why does MLB still use a wooden bat when a myriad of other technological choices are available? Because part of the attraction to baseball is the link to the past. The past performance of the stars that have come before. Guys who hit the same ball with a wooden bat 40 years ago. This (theoretically) allows baseball fans to compare apples-to-apples when looking at the statistics of Babe Ruth and Ryan Howard. But now – that comparison is not possible. Medical science, through steroids, has introduced a wildcard that throws off all the efforts of the baseball purest. In the steroid era the human body was the element of change that broke the treasured link to the past. Very sad.

I guess all of this makes the accomplishments of the clean superstars like Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, and Greg Maddux all that more impressive. Guys - please don’t let me (or my kids) down.