Seemed Like a Good Idea at the TIme
You know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of being stuck in the doldrums of sports. I’m sick of waiting all this time since the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl until the World Series champion Boston Red Sox take the field. I’m sick of NHL owners, players and execs ruining the game of hockey. But most of all, I’m sick of all the steroid talk. I’m sick of not being able to turn on my local sports radio station and listen without hearing every Tom, Dick and Harry say what they think about steroids. Baseball is just over a week away, and I couldn’t be happier. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to hearing callers try to explain why they think Byung Hyun Kim would be enough to get Scott Rolen away from the Cardinals, or any other ridiculous trade proposal for that matter.
Its no secret steroids were present in baseball recently. Some people have admitted to using them, some people have denied using them, and some people haven’t really said either way. Alright, fine, they were there, I get it. I don’t want to go on speculation anymore. I don’t want to dissect Mark McGuire’s facial expressions and tears from the Congressional hearings to see if maybe I can pick up a hint of whether or not he did steroids.
What I want to do is see Ichiro slap 98 mile an hour heaters around the infield like they’re nothing. I want to see Omar Vizquel flash the leather in a Giants uniform. I want to see Big Papi treat pitchers like a red-headed step-child. And I want to see Ben Sheets show everyone why he should be considered the best young pitcher in the game.
I don’t want to hear about steroids anymore. Is it ridiculous that it was allowed to go on? Sure. But baseball will do something about it now. They have to. Because if they don’t, Congress will for them. It’s not going to cause a work stoppage. And believe it or not, as much as everyone is crying “wolf,” and saying that they think Major League Baseball is a fraud, Opening Day ticket sales are at an all time high. Riddle me that.
Testing will get tougher, and punishments will become more harsh for those caught using steroids. For the rest of baseball and its fans, it is now time to move on. The talk of an asterisk in the record books is incredulous. This is becoming a witch hunt. Steroids technically weren’t even illegal in baseball until 2002. But now they are, and now baseball is testing. Other than that, there’s nothing that can be done.
Lets set the record straight, I believe Mark McGuire took more than andro. But that argument is for another time. I have no medical knowledge to base it on, nor first hand knowledge of any sort of substance. It’s my opinion, and nothing more. Just as it is for millions of other fans. Nobody will ever know for sure whether his record breaking 70 home run season was done with the help of performance enhancing drugs. Because unless you know some way to travel in time, I’m pretty sure digging up a sample of McGuire’s urine from the 1998 season is impossible.
The game of baseball changes. But instead of focusing on the negative connotations that the steroid issue brings about, maybe we should see it as an opportunity; an opportunity to look back and really appreciate what players like Willy Mays, Ted Williams and Henry Aaron were able to accomplish. Lets focus on all the great things of the past, and, like Mark McGuire would say, “think positive” and “work towards the future.” People still love the game of baseball, and steroids won’t change that. Ticket sales so far have proven that much. So why as a nation are we all focusing on the negative aspects. Why isn’t everyone excited that Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson can help jumpstart an offense that was nothing short of anemic last season. Or that the Rocket has decided to give fans one more season in Houston, albeit for $18.5 million.
In a city generally regarded for its sports pessimism like Boston, I can’t say I didn’t expect all the steroid talk. But the extent to which it has saturated the national media just makes me sick. Now maybe it isn’t just the talk in general that is bothering me. I can stomach listening to someone talk about steroids for a little while. It’s the seeming abundance of ignorance surrounding the topic.
Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald said, “I begrudge the era that tolerated this more than I begrudge the man. You can’t wipe out the 90’s.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. In 1998 everyone was so caught up with Slammin’ Sammy and Big Mac that nobody cared how it was being done. For two people to break Roger Maris’ single season home run record in the same year was phenomenal. But now, all of a sudden it’s wrong.
That summer the nation found itself tuning into every Cardinals and Cubs game they could. Nationally televised games were interrupted when McGuire or Sosa came up to bat. In the summer of ’98, for baseball everyday was like the Super Bowl, and nobody cared why. Now the same people who couldn’t get enough of baseball are crying wolf. People are taking back what they said about baseball, but asking players to tell all to the press. We can’t have it both ways.
When Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, then proceeded to shatter every slugging mark the Babe ever put up, people’s jaws dropped in marvel. But nowadays Bonds is barely a step up from Saddam Hussein. Baseball writers have been quick to note that when eligible to be inducted, Bonds and McGuire won’t get their votes for Cooperstown. They’re so quick to discount what Barry did before he allegedly took steroids, because they don’t like him, and he doesn’t like them. Take the stats from the first fifteen years of his career (before the 2001 season) and you get a man with 494 home runs, and 471 stolen bases. Numbers that had Bonds not gotten bigger, would still have allowed him to become the first and only member of the 500/500 club in baseball. Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald said, “Barry bonds is the greatest player of our lifetime, with or without steroids. He won three MVP’s as a stick figure. I don’t think they were cheating. Despite their size, these guys climbed through a loophole.” A loophole that we’re now blaming them for.
People aren’t just beating a dead horse here. They’re putting it back together, and beating it again. And I’m sure many of them will be “sick” for work on opening day. Well I wish them all the best, and hope they can live with being a hypocrite, because I sure couldn’t. You know what I learned from Congressional hearings, interviews of Jose Canseco, steroid testing, Barry Bonds being hung out to dry and countless hours of bantering about steroids on sports radio? Steroids are wrong, steroids are unhealthy, baseball will survive and opening day is April 3rd. And when Randy Johnson throws the first pitch to Johnny Damon at 8:05pm that Sunday night, maybe fans and the media can get over themselves for a little bit and enjoy the greatest rivalry of our nation’s pastime.
Its no secret steroids were present in baseball recently. Some people have admitted to using them, some people have denied using them, and some people haven’t really said either way. Alright, fine, they were there, I get it. I don’t want to go on speculation anymore. I don’t want to dissect Mark McGuire’s facial expressions and tears from the Congressional hearings to see if maybe I can pick up a hint of whether or not he did steroids.
What I want to do is see Ichiro slap 98 mile an hour heaters around the infield like they’re nothing. I want to see Omar Vizquel flash the leather in a Giants uniform. I want to see Big Papi treat pitchers like a red-headed step-child. And I want to see Ben Sheets show everyone why he should be considered the best young pitcher in the game.
I don’t want to hear about steroids anymore. Is it ridiculous that it was allowed to go on? Sure. But baseball will do something about it now. They have to. Because if they don’t, Congress will for them. It’s not going to cause a work stoppage. And believe it or not, as much as everyone is crying “wolf,” and saying that they think Major League Baseball is a fraud, Opening Day ticket sales are at an all time high. Riddle me that.
Testing will get tougher, and punishments will become more harsh for those caught using steroids. For the rest of baseball and its fans, it is now time to move on. The talk of an asterisk in the record books is incredulous. This is becoming a witch hunt. Steroids technically weren’t even illegal in baseball until 2002. But now they are, and now baseball is testing. Other than that, there’s nothing that can be done.
Lets set the record straight, I believe Mark McGuire took more than andro. But that argument is for another time. I have no medical knowledge to base it on, nor first hand knowledge of any sort of substance. It’s my opinion, and nothing more. Just as it is for millions of other fans. Nobody will ever know for sure whether his record breaking 70 home run season was done with the help of performance enhancing drugs. Because unless you know some way to travel in time, I’m pretty sure digging up a sample of McGuire’s urine from the 1998 season is impossible.
The game of baseball changes. But instead of focusing on the negative connotations that the steroid issue brings about, maybe we should see it as an opportunity; an opportunity to look back and really appreciate what players like Willy Mays, Ted Williams and Henry Aaron were able to accomplish. Lets focus on all the great things of the past, and, like Mark McGuire would say, “think positive” and “work towards the future.” People still love the game of baseball, and steroids won’t change that. Ticket sales so far have proven that much. So why as a nation are we all focusing on the negative aspects. Why isn’t everyone excited that Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson can help jumpstart an offense that was nothing short of anemic last season. Or that the Rocket has decided to give fans one more season in Houston, albeit for $18.5 million.
In a city generally regarded for its sports pessimism like Boston, I can’t say I didn’t expect all the steroid talk. But the extent to which it has saturated the national media just makes me sick. Now maybe it isn’t just the talk in general that is bothering me. I can stomach listening to someone talk about steroids for a little while. It’s the seeming abundance of ignorance surrounding the topic.
Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald said, “I begrudge the era that tolerated this more than I begrudge the man. You can’t wipe out the 90’s.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. In 1998 everyone was so caught up with Slammin’ Sammy and Big Mac that nobody cared how it was being done. For two people to break Roger Maris’ single season home run record in the same year was phenomenal. But now, all of a sudden it’s wrong.
That summer the nation found itself tuning into every Cardinals and Cubs game they could. Nationally televised games were interrupted when McGuire or Sosa came up to bat. In the summer of ’98, for baseball everyday was like the Super Bowl, and nobody cared why. Now the same people who couldn’t get enough of baseball are crying wolf. People are taking back what they said about baseball, but asking players to tell all to the press. We can’t have it both ways.
When Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, then proceeded to shatter every slugging mark the Babe ever put up, people’s jaws dropped in marvel. But nowadays Bonds is barely a step up from Saddam Hussein. Baseball writers have been quick to note that when eligible to be inducted, Bonds and McGuire won’t get their votes for Cooperstown. They’re so quick to discount what Barry did before he allegedly took steroids, because they don’t like him, and he doesn’t like them. Take the stats from the first fifteen years of his career (before the 2001 season) and you get a man with 494 home runs, and 471 stolen bases. Numbers that had Bonds not gotten bigger, would still have allowed him to become the first and only member of the 500/500 club in baseball. Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald said, “Barry bonds is the greatest player of our lifetime, with or without steroids. He won three MVP’s as a stick figure. I don’t think they were cheating. Despite their size, these guys climbed through a loophole.” A loophole that we’re now blaming them for.
People aren’t just beating a dead horse here. They’re putting it back together, and beating it again. And I’m sure many of them will be “sick” for work on opening day. Well I wish them all the best, and hope they can live with being a hypocrite, because I sure couldn’t. You know what I learned from Congressional hearings, interviews of Jose Canseco, steroid testing, Barry Bonds being hung out to dry and countless hours of bantering about steroids on sports radio? Steroids are wrong, steroids are unhealthy, baseball will survive and opening day is April 3rd. And when Randy Johnson throws the first pitch to Johnny Damon at 8:05pm that Sunday night, maybe fans and the media can get over themselves for a little bit and enjoy the greatest rivalry of our nation’s pastime.
posted by Trevor at 4:10 AM
3 comments
