Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Performance Enhancing Drugs in Baseball. Does anyone still care?

The latest performance enhancing drug scandal to hit Major League Baseball has me wondering, does anyone still care?  Baseball is a game of numbers and statistics.  Batting average, home runs, RBI's, steals. These are all stats that baseball purest hold near and dear to their hearts. The names: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Hammering Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays.  All mythical in baseball lore.  Those names are just a few of the all time greats to ever play baseball.  All of these players compiled hall of fame numbers; presumably free of any performance enhancing substances.
Baseball purist would argue; the players of today could never be of the same stature as the players of baseball's golden years. Purest would argue; PED's have tarnished the record books of "America's Pastime." Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were two of the greatest players of their generation. Neither player ever failed a drug test, but everyone presumes that they "juiced." Both players have hall of fame statistics, but the cloud of PED's hover over their career's.  Clemens has 354 career wins as a pitcher.  Bonds has a major league record 762 career home runs.  That record was previously held by the aforementioned Hank Aaron.  These numbers are etched into baseball's record books.  Both Clemensand Bonds statistics were most likely obtained with the aid of PED's. My question is; does anyone really care?  MLB refuses to change any statistic held by any alleged; or proven PED user.  Baseball fans are knumb to the issue of PED's at this point.  I've been a Baltimore Oriole fan my entire life. Two of my favorite Orioles players growing up were Brady Anderson and Rapheal Palmeiro. Both players "juiced" in their primes.  Ask me if I care.  Not in the least!  All I remember are the home runs they (Anderson & Palmeiro) hit to deep center in Camden Yards.  I'm not a purist.  I wasn't heartbroken to find out Alex Rodriguez used PED's for most if his career. A-Rod's has over 600 career home runs.  Who knows how many of those homers were aided by his PED use.  News flash MLB.  Most Americans are to busy thinking about fantasy football to even pay attention to this latest PED revelation.  Baseball is #3 in the hearts and minds of Americans.  In the famous words of Ricky Bobby.  "If you ain't first, then you're last." So again I ask; PED's and baseball, does anyone still care?

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