The steroids issue lingers in baseball like a public appearance of Britney Spears. It’s really not that interesting, but no one can stop talking about it.
After David Ortiz’s name was revealed to be on the list of 2003 ‘offenders’, I was honestly shocked at the response. People were asking me whether Boston’s titles in 2004 and 2007 were now tainted with cheaters Big Papi and Manny on the team. No, I said. I was offended that someone in the know was leaking confidential information and that the leak had not been discovered and prosecuted. No one seemed at all interested in that discussion.
I have reflected a lot on this issue since the McGwire-Sosa 1998 homerun chase. I thought at the time that both were using something, especially Sosa. That now seems likely to be the case. And my response ever sense has been, so what? At the time, it wasn’t against the rules and wasn’t tested for. MLB didn’t have a truly meaningful drug policy until 2005. Think about that. Seven years after McGwire and Sosa chased Maris, the powers that be finally did something to stop it.
I am in no way endorsing cheating. I wish these drugs had never entered professional sports, but they did, the leagues, players, fans and media looked the other way, and now it’s just an era we have to deal with. So get over it. Do you want to stop being a baseball fan? Fine, walk away, your call. Do you want to hate McGwire, Clemens, Manny, Canseco, etc., for the rest of your life? Be my guest. But it’s a massive waste of energy.
So without further ado, here are the greatest myths of the ‘steroid era.’
It Taints the Champions (any team with ‘proven cheaters’)
How is this even rational? Yes, I’m a Boston guy, so of course I want my team’s recent positive history to stick. But unless someone can tell me that Boston and New York had more ‘cheaters’ than everybody else, the playing field was even. Just because the Pirates sucked doesn’t mean they didn’t have PED users.
It Taints the Records
Total crap as well, it just reframes them. When MLB raised the mounds in 1968, ERAs fell through the floor. Do we ‘raise’ Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA? Heck no, but as we look at the time period, we just know that was part of the reason. Yes, you say, but Gibson had the same advantage as everyone else, and that’s true. But we have had spitballers (aka cheaters) throughout baseball history, and we had players popping uppers since the late 1960s. So in order for it to taint the records, we’d have to go back and look at all ‘cheaters’, not just steroid users. And then it becomes ridiculous. Bill Simmons does a great job exploring that in a recent column.
What is does taint are the individuals. McGwire, Manny, the Rocket, Giambi, Big Papi, Bonds. All these guys will forever be connected to this era, and not in a good way, fair or unfair. If they used, it was ethically wrong, no doubt, and likely caused harm to ‘clean’ players. They should be labeled as users.
But let’s lay off the legal argument. Besides a misguided and wasteful federal investigation of Bonds, buying these drugs is not a huge deal for the government. If it was, they would crawling around clubhouses looking for users. Luckily they have better things to do.
They Don’t Deserve to be in the Hall of Fame
As J. Jonah Jameson would say: “Crap, crap, double crap.” A Hall of Fame without Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, etc., is a joke. You’re going to exclude the greatest player of my lifetime (Bonds) because he has been accused of taking PEDs but never tested positive or was convicted of anything? Come one. Get off the self-righteous soapbox.
This is where I get really revved up. The sportswriters pointing the finger are hypocrites. Where was the investigative journalism? Where was the scandal? You guys profited off this, got raises, sold books, and watched your popularity soar and now want to point the finger? That indignation would have felt sincere in 1989 (when the Fenway crowd chanted ‘steroids’ at Jose Canseco). It feels hallow now. Any writer who doesn’t vote for Bonds will prove themselves a fool.
Could you ding a borderline guy like Palmeiro? Sure. Could you devalue people because of the inflated era? Absolutely. But keeping some of the best players in baseball history out of the sport’s shrine for breaking a rule that didn’t exist is stupid.
The World Will End if Jeter Tests Positive
Gene Wojciechowski recently wrote that if Derek Jeter tested positive, baseball would die. Come on dude, not even the man every sportswriter and sportscaster wants to father their children could bring down America’s Pastime.
First off, I would be surprised if Jeter tested positive. But holding up any of these guys (Griffey, Ripken, Jeter) as non-users is ridiculous. I don’t believe they used anything, but would it shock me? No. They are highly competitive men trying to gain every edge.
The name that should scare everyone isn’t Jeter but Jordan. There has been no basketball PED scandal yet, but that doesn’t mean the sport was clean. You don’t think the hyper-competitive Jordan wouldn’t have looked for every advantage, especially during his comebacks? Now a revelation like that would rock the sports world. A Jeter admission wouldn’t even bring down the Yankees (unfortunately).
It Taints Memories
Well, this one is very individual. For me it just changes them. I remember working as a waiter in 1998 when McGwire hit No. 62. I had a pager at the time, and my roommate Keith paged me with a simple message: 62. I cheered out loud. I told my section, and everyone clapped.
If McGwire’s numbers are tainted by his non-denial, so be it. It changes my perspective on that moment, but it doesn’t change the joy of that baseball memory. And Manny testing positive does nothing to dim my memories of 2004 and 2007. You can choose to have it change your memories, but I’m going to keep mine as is.
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