Pro: Record book has to be split because of steroid era , By: Jon Catalini

April 9, 2006

I remember watching the fervor surrounding the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run bonanza in 1998 and thinking, "Doesn't anyone see something wrong with this?"

McGwire and Sosa didn't look like baseball players; they looked like they should be hanging out at Gold's Gym, pumping iron and then checking out their pipes in the mirrors.

Fans, media and everyone in baseball were all ga-ga over the record-setting pace of these two prodigious sluggers. Not many, if any at all, stopped and wondered how two players who had put good power numbers in the past were now putting up eye-popping stats in the same season. Could it be their eye-popping, bulging physiques? It wasn't just McGwire and Sosa, a guy named Brady Anderson hit 50 homers. Brady Anderson? Remember him? Reaching 50 homers was a significant plateau before the McGwire-Sosa era. Fans began to think 50 wasn't that great. Sixty, now that would be impressive. Seventy, that's even better.

Much of the debate around baseball 10 years ago was whether the baseball was juiced, not the players. Now, we tend to believe the latter over the former. For good reason, considering there is much evidence — anecdotal, circumstantial and factual — to come to the conclusion that many were using performance-enhancing drugs. More to the point, steroids were rampant throughout the game.

Obviously the steroids controversy has reached its crescendo, thanks to the man who broke McGwire's record. Barry Bonds is innocent until proven guilty, but in the court of public opinion, he has guilt written all over his swollen biceps. So baseball is launching an investigation after the fact, and it could end up as a witch hunt. It's really too late. First, they can't suspend someone for something that wasn't even tested for at the time. Second, naming names could lead to smudging a player's reputation who could actually be innocent.

For baseball, the adage "any publicity is good publicity" is working. The same fans who were riveted by the McGwire-Sosa home run extravaganza are the ones who now want the game to be "cleaned up." Attendance is still strong, and the game appears to be thriving because of the who-is-using-who-isn't hullabaloo.

Erasing numbers from the record book or sticking an asterisk next to some individual marks will be nearly impossible. Players have cheated in some fashion since baseball was invented.

Commissioner Bud Selig should break up the record book when it comes to the most revered mark in the game — home runs. There could be two categories: pre-1990 and post-1990. It's not just because of steroids. Modern-day ballparks (much smaller and hitter-friendly), poor pitching (diluted because of expansion) and technology (the use of video to study pitchers and your own swing) has all made it easy to hit over the fence.

Purists may scoff at breaking up the books, because purists love to debate. Selig probably won't touch any records, and the debate over who is the greatest home run hitter of all time will go on.

It's what baseball wants in the end anyway.