I did not pay very much attention to baseball back in 1998, but even I knew about the home run chase. Most see it as having “saved baseball.” What, I wonder, does it mean now that we know the whole thing was a complete sham perpetrated by a bunch of cheaters and their enablers? Was it worth it for having given the game a new lease on life and a chance to fix these sorts of problems? Or is it just inevitable that a major sport like this has to eventually come to the point where the pressure to perform is so great that the players will one day do whatever it takes to win, whether acceptable or not?
For something that apparently needed congressional hearings a few years ago (although I have to be honest in that I suspect that bit of theater had far more to do about distracting from other affairs), it’s amazing to me that McGwire can be on a coaching staff, that A-Rod can get some media attention followed by a good season, and that Manny Ramirez can sit out 50 games. I know which of the three of them ought to be pretty pissed at the other two! It’s funny that aside from being wrong it’s so inconsistent and so seldom questioned.
For what it’s worth, I think cheaters should be tossed out, barred from the hall of fame, and their records removed from official statistics. End of story. But I’m not enough of a long-time fan to have enough emotional investment in the game or particular players to think that it’s okay to just look the other way when people break the rules – rules they were fully aware of when they signed on. See, I grew into baseball later on, but I think that’s enabled me to see that it’s time baseball did a little growing up. Cheating simply shouldn’t be tolerated, and just because it’s been happening for so long is no excuse to let it continue.
