I can’t even muster up the energy to write a full-length post on the recent news of Alex Rodriguez’s steroid use, an allegation he confirmed in an “apology” interview with Peter Gammons on ESPN last night. Needless to say, as a lifelong fan of the game, I’m disappointed. But more than anything, I’m just numb to all this stuff. Five years ago it was McGwire, Sosa, and Palmeiro. Then Bonds. Then Clemens and the Mitchell Report. Now A-Rod. At this point, nothing could surprise me. And until the players’ union approves blood testing for human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing substances, a pall of suspicion will linger over this entire era of baseball history.
Here’s the big thing for me: I have a kid who knows who A-Rod is now. For Christmas, he got a little A-Rod figure that he keeps on his dresser. He knows Alex Rodriguez is one of the best players in the game. He’s been watching an old VHS tape of the Home Run chase of 1998 with McGwire and Sosa. He knows McGwire broke the record by hitting 70 homers that year. These guys are quickly becoming his heroes. At some point, he’s going to realize these guys have cheated in order to get ahead in the game and in life.
I’m not trying to be too dramatic here. Maybe it’s good for him to learn to tread carefully when you started ascribing hero status to someone, especially athletes. Maybe Charles Barkley was right: these guys shouldn’t be role models. But try breaking that to a 4 year old little boy who’s even more infatuated with baseball than his Dad.
already & not yet 
You know, as a huge Yankees fan, this shocked me to my very core. I just knew A Rod wasn’t juicing. It was an “apology”, and I know that’s better than denying, but don’t play innocent. Accept it and move on. What I’m interested in now is to see if they will release the names of the other 100 or so guys who were on the list. Wouldn’t that only be fair to all those who are clean? What hero will be on that list?
It isn’t right that A-Rod is the only name that’s been leaked from that list. But I’m not sure it’d be right to release the other 100+ names; the whole thing was supposed to be confidential. It’s sort of a “two wrongs don’t make a right” thing, in my opinion.But I’m sure those names will eventually be leaked. There are no secrets.
the thing we forget here is that about a year ago A-rod denied ever even being tempted by PED’s much less using them…..now he’s busted, and granted, he apologized, which places him above the likes of Bonds and Clemens…but what are we saying to sports stars, role-modelS…”it’s ok to lie, but if you get caught, you should admit and apologize and eerything will be okay?”…sorry, i just don’t buy it.as for the good of baseball, they should air out all their dirty laundry, let Bond’s and Clemens share a cell in the pen, and come up with a die-hard, transparent testing program and move on.slowly leaking names only slows the healing process. the only way to prevent leaks is to get rid of the “leakable” (this word can be found in the updated Webster’s version that also includes “trinkle”)
An interesting question emerges here: What about the Hall of Fame candidacy of each of these guys? There are some baseball writers who say they will never vote for a player linked to steroid allegations, no matter how great his on-field accomplishments. If that holds true (and judging by Mark McGwire’s dwindling number of HoF votes in spite of 583 career homers), then we might see this era’s greatest home run hitter (Bonds), pitcher (Clemens), and all around player (Rodriguez) excluded from the Hall. What do you think? Should these guys still be given Hall of Fame consideration?
And I’m still working on the “trinkle” thing, Trey. Don’t worry; it’ll catch on.
You know, Peter Gammonds made an interesting point last night. A-Rod still has 7 or 8 good years left of baseball, if not more. If he can go the next 7 or 8 years without juicing, being clean, no performance enhancers at all, and can still do what he’s done pre-Texas, post-Texas…I say yes. Of course, if he is exposed this year for being a schmuck and can’t play at all, that’s a different story.McGwire, unfortunately, and Bonds, had all this come out at the end of their careers.
this is one of the two reasons I don’t watch baseball.
OK, Greg. I’ll bite. What’s the other reason?
I’m torn on the Hall of Fame for these guys. On the one hand, I can’t feel good about honoring these guys for these great careers that have been marred by PEDs. On the other hand, as Jayson Stark says, the Hall of Fame is a museum, not the Vatican. If you put Fergie Jenkins in, why not these guys? I guess where I end up in the discussion is that even though you have to discount the stats of guys like McGwire, Sosa, Palmiero, Bonds, A-Rod, etc, these guys still put up incredible offensive numbers in an era when plenty of pitchers were using PEDs, too. No amount of steroids would give me Barry Bonds’ hand-eye coordination and strike zone judgment. So I think you have to have Bonds and the rest of these guys in there at some point.
Sorry for joining the conversation so late. Getting into the Hall of Fame has always been somewhat predicated on context. When comparing numbers across the eras of the game we have to keep in mind the number of games played, size of ballparks, whether a players career was interrupted by the draft and so on. Putting natural ability to the side (e.g. Bond’s control at the plate, Clemens command of the strike zone and nasty splitter, and A-Rods 40/40 season pre-steroids) the context of the era says that these guys are the best of the best given that “the culture of baseball”, as A-Roid said, was chocked full of guys using and abusing. Some estimates put the usage as high as 75% of all baseball players were using between 1995-2005.At the end of the day it’s an embarrassment to the sport – and to the entire culture of sports – in the age of blood doping. But unless we are going to black out all records from this era – I think we have to include these guys.
T.H., thanks for chiming in. I think we’re in agreement. Short of indicting the whole era, I don’t know how you can realistically keep these stars out of the Hall. Now Selig has announced that he’s going to consider suspending A-Rod. Again, I have problems with this. These test results were supposed to be confidential. Now that it’s been leaked, you’re going to suspend one guy? What about the other 103 names on the list? The commissioner’s office knows who these guys are, and yet you’re going to single out one individual and make him the scapegoat? That’s weak. Here’s the real rub: there are all these sportswriters who say they’ll never vote for Bonds, McGwire, or anyone linked to PEDs. Let’s say this list isn’t released and a player, say Jeff Bagwell, is voted into the Hall of Fame and years later it’s revealed that he tested positive and his name has been on the list. What then? Do you realize what a mess all of this is?