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.

Enough of the Basketball Already! What If Major League Baseball continued to look away?

In 1998, 2 men single-handedly brought extreme popularity back to baseball. The Major Leagues were losing in their struggle against the NFL in popularity and were even in jeopardy of falling behind the NBA. That's when two brave men went on to have one of the most epic battles in sports history. Mark Mcgwire and Sammy Sosa, from the St.Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs respectively, made history. They started a campaign of monstrous homeruns that brought the baseball world to its feet. Night after night baseball fans across the country cheered on these two goliaths as they jacked baseballs out of the park like they were tennis balls and now these 2 men that brought so much joy during those seasons have been scrutinized and slammed for taking steroids and human growth hormones that apparently "loaded" their stats. Besides the fact that I don't agree with all of this scrutiny, which is a topic for blogging all in itself, I ponder the question, what if Major League Baseball never did anything about steroids and continued to turn the other cheek?

Would their be any question at all whether Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Mark Mcgwire or Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. They would all of been first ballot HoFer's without hesitation before the steroid allegations.(It's also important to remember that at the time the substances were not illegal,but thats besides the point as well...) The case for Bonds being the greatest player to ever play game would also be hard to ever oppose.

What would baseball be looking like right now, a professional sport ravaged and tainted by drug use? Or is that not what it already is? When Sosa and Mcgwire were cranking dingers left and right, where were these allegations? It seems the human way though, to cheer for heros when we need them, then immediately jump on any flaws they may have when we're done with them. Sadly we won't know what would have happened if we just looked the other direction, now congress has made it a big deal, the MLB has made it a bigger deal, but its not going anywhere, athletes will always try to make themselves better by whatever means necessary and if asked to vote today, I would vote in Sosa, Mcgwire, Bonds and Palmeiro. Especially Sosa and Mcgwire, I was one of the young baseball fans screaming out " Go Slammin' Sammy" and I still cheer for that man today. We're all human, and maybe just maybe if congress worried about more important things we'd all be better off.