All-Star game, Barry Bonds and Steroids, Oh My

July 10, 2007

With the 2007 MLB All-Star game only hours away, lets reflect on some of the recent events that have tarnished our favorite past-time's image. 

Baseball has always had a story book affect on me, ever since I was an eight year old child raised in New York.  I grew up a New York Yankees fan, idolizing players such as Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford.

Today, lets think about Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa. What do they all have in common? They all "allegedly" broke the baseball rules. Sosa corked his bat for extra power, giving him extra home runs. McGwire took steroids, giving him extra home runs. I don't care who says that Bonds is under attack because of his race, or who thinks that he didn't take steroids. He took steroids. Of that, I am 100% sure. So the real question is, do these players deserve the Hall of Fame?

I think that this would be best observed by also looking at another case of a broken rule. Pete Rose, who bet on baseball while managing the Reds, broke the rules. He is still not allowed into the Hall of Fame, which I strongly support. Granted, most of these rule-breakers will not be voted in. The only two that really worry me are Bonds and McGwire. would be amiss in allowing these two cheaters to even approach Cooperstown in person, let alone to be voted into the Hall of Fame. So let's make what they did legal. Let's allow steroids into America's most sacred sport. Oops, now we just turned 's pastime into a robot-driven sport. "But," you say, "Look at that great play! That player just turned yet another beautiful play! And he's hit three straight homers! He's the reason this game is 18-14!" That sounds great. Except that it wasn't the player that did all that. It was the steroids. 's pastime is turning into a sport in which the players aren't really playing.

Let's take a look at some real, all-natural baseball players. The Jones boys, Chipper and Andruw, have never taken steroids. They did it the real way. Between them, they have MVP's, Golden Gloves, and Silver Sluggers. They are amazing baseball players. Sure, Bonds has some of these. Bonds also CHEATED his way to the top. So why should Barry Bonds get into the Hall of Fame and pass Babe Ruth when some things he did were not even deserved?

Steroids are ripping America's pastime apart. They are turning it into a sport in which a player doesn't have to work as hard as another just because they can inject themselves later with steroids. Why work hard? Why practice as hard? Just take the quick fix. This is why I believe that steroids should definitely not be allowed in baseball. These men that are preparing to enter eligibility into the Hall of the greats are going to be nothing more than a pack of cheaters. Cooperstown is reserved for the best players who ever played the game. Cooperstown is, however, not reserved for people who cut corners to get to the top. But there is good news. We do have a place reserved for them. We have Pete Rose's "Prison without bars" in which they just wait and rot, knowing they will not ever see Cooperstown.

It's very difficult to predict the mindset of the people who will have to make critical decisions regarding steroid abusers in the near future.  One thing for certain is that steroids have indeed cast a dark cloud over what once was a ray of sunshine for this eight year old boy in me. 

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