A "Growing" Issue for the Magnificent Seven

Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. All seven of these men were sure-fire, no doubt, first ballot Hall-of-Famers, now there is a chance that none of them will make it to Cooperstown. Yes I know, they all are guilty of taking some sort of "performance enhancing" drug, well at least in the minds of the fans that is. Now the question is, do they really deserve all of this persecution? I'm sorry people but I am no longer a part of the steroids crusade.

For a while I was at the same point most are at now about this topic and felt that those who took some sort of substance should in fact be judged and condemned by the baseball world. Now I think differently. Not only has this long and drawn out witch-hunt disappointed me, but it has also made me question what's really the big deal. Now before you get on that high horse of yours and rant about the purity of the sport and how steroids have tainted everything and how these athletes are despicable cheaters, why don't we put this whole incident into some persepective?

First off, most of these players weren't doing anything illegal. They were taking a substance to increase performance, like you or I would take whey protein or creatine or any other muscle building substance, just these substances were given to them by trainers or doctors and were not disallowed by baseball as of 2003. People on the 2003 list were tested in order for Major League Baseball to conclude if there should be testing. These substances were taken by the athletes to get an edge, to play better, to last longer, and to gain more muscle. So like every athlete in the world these players took something to help out, yes it has its side effects and its bad rep, but its just a substance. I've always felt that steroids make you hit better like energy drinks make me test better, sure it helps, but its still my skill on display.

Now you might be saying well these drugs are illegal and people shouldn't take them, and yes I agree with you there, but I do not feel right in condemning these athletes any further, because in all honesty I feel that if I were under that pressure I'd do the same thing. Athletes take many anabolic,"natural", and synthetic materials everyday, and if anything they are taking now becomes illegal in the future, well they are toast. There have been many athletes from the past that have even come forward and said they would have taken them. You can't tell me right now that Babe Ruth wouldn't have taken something to keep himself going if it were around then. We are judging these players wrongly and insensitively. Taking drugs that are illegal is wrong from a legal standpoint, taking a substance to help you perform better in a sport, is just the way of the world. If you play sports and want to make it big in this day and age, not the fuddy-duddy days, then you're going to take performing enhancing substances in some way shape or form, and fans, I only ask you to get over yourself.

What if the Expos Weren't Struck Out?

Ken Griffey Jr. probably summed up the 1994 season the best when he said " We picked a bad season to have a good year" Nobody felt this pain any worse than the Montreal Expos. Currently at the time of the strike they had the best record in the majors at 74-40 and were on pace for 105 wins, the best record in franchise history and before this they had only made it to the postseason one other time and that was in 1981.

The team was stacked with talent, players like Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Marquis Grissom, Jeff Fassero, were all hitting their primes and playing well. They were 6 games ahead of the Braves and most baseball writers were on the bandwagon picking them to go to the World Series.

But as this blog of mine has clearly shown, things don't always go the way we think they should or the way we hope they will. The final 47 games of the year were cancelled along with the postseason and World Series. The great effort put forth by the Expos was forgotten because nothing became of it. Would this have saved this dying franchise? Would it have given them a fanbase to put them back on the map again? This strike severley dampened the notion to get a new stadium in Montreal and local ownership groups decided not to invest enough for the team to retain its best players.

Some may say that winning a World Series might not have done a whole lot for the already diminishing franchise in Canada, but I think otherwise. Winning does a lot more than you think. With a new stadium and high interest sprung back on the team because of their success, I think it would have only made sense for ownership to have invested in the team and keep the stars. Who knows, Pedro could have been a 3 time NL Cy Young award winner and Moises Alou and Larry Walker would have provided plenty of punch in the lineup. The Expos could still be around today.

Just as another little side note about the 1994 season though this is slightly off topic from the Expos, this season was looking quite astounding for all statistics. People don't normally remember but Matt Williams was actually on pace to top Roger Maris' record of 61 homeruns he had 43 at the time of the strike. Also Tony Gwynn was batting .394 and had a legitimate shot at being the first man since Ted Williams to top an average .400.

Picture Courtesy of Major League Baseball

The Greatest Athlete Ever? What Could Have Been for Bo Jackson...

In order to be a professional athlete it takes work, dedication and an extraordinary amount of talent. You must be willing to give every ounce of strength in order to excel and push your body to the next tier of performance. It takes relentless hours of practicing that one sport and becoming a master of it. In one very interesting and particular case, one man mastered two sports in a way that no one else has ever done. His name was Bo Jackson, and he was one of the most gifted athletes to ever step on a baseball field or a football field. You may ask yourself, why a person that incredible is not as well known as he should be and the sad answer is...injury.

His credentials before his career altering injury, A Heisman Trophy, a Pro Bowl Selection and an MLB All-Star Selection. He was selected as the first overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft and drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the MLB amateur draft. He holds the record for most yards recorded during a Monday Night Football game with 221 in 1987 and was the MLB All-Star game MVP in 1989.

During his best year as an NFL player he rushed for 698 yards on 125 carries averaging an incredible 5.6 yards per carry in only 10 games and as a backup.

During his best year as a MLB player he finished 1oth in the MVP voting and hit 32 homeruns with 105 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He was 26 and wasn't even being as utilized as much as he could have been due to his dueling careers.

Now hypothetically, taking an in-depth look at Bo Jackson before the injury that ended his career in 1990 as a football player and 1993 as a baseball player I have come up with a view on what could have been. In the NFL he was just beginning to bloom as a star, he was taken down in the prime of his career and was averaging over 5 yards per carry, just to put that in perspective a little, Barry Sanders averaged 5.0 and Emmit Smith, 4.2. If he had just stayed on pace with his minimalist numbers he could have reached 14,000 yards very easily, but based on his style of play it would have been much more likely for him to have reached 16,000. Ending his career with total like that, would have made him a Hall of Fame player without a doubt.

In the Major Leagues he was not known for his batting average, but for his speed and power. He wasn't utilized in the ways he could have been due to his two-sport career, but he was on pace for Hall of Famer numbers as a baseball player too! Before his injury he was averaging 33 homeruns and 100 RBIs per 162 games. Of course this is all hypothetical, but a career like that would have led to about 400+ homeruns, 400+ steals and about 1350 RBIs. And that would have been only as a part-timer considering he never played more than 125 games.

All in all it’s a tragedy that one of the greatest athletes to ever participate in professional sports was never able to complete the career that could have been the most incredible thing any one had ever seen. Unimaginable things happen, leading us to only ponder... what could have been for Mr. Bo Jackson.