The Great American Steroid Era

Baseball is the greatest sport in the world; there really is no close second. I was fortunate enough to go to a Diamondbacks game this week and see a wonderful pitching matchup. Even though the D-Backs ended up on the short end of a 4-3 game, I got to see the longest homerun hit in Major League Baseball this year. In the bottom of the 9th inning, Mark Reynolds crushed a hanging slider about 485 feet into the furthest reaches of Chase Field. It was majestic; even though the D-Backs lost, seeing that homerun was more than worth the price of admission. (By the way, my price of admission was $0 - thank you to Spence Price)

Earlier today, the "shocking" news broke that another couple of huge baseball names tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in that 2003 drug test that was supposed to be anonymous and sealed. What a surpise. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were added to the growing list of names of superstar baseball players whose reputations and massive power numbers are now, to say the least, tarnished. The following are players whose names have been associated with steroid use: Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa . . . . and the list goes on and on and on. Honestly, the only names on the list that I can honestly say I respect even a little bit are Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi because at least when they got caught, they owned up to it.

Most of the players on the list hide behind the excuses of, "I didn't really know what I was taking," or "I have never, I repeat, never used performance enhancing drugs" or my personal favorite, "It was just part of baseball culture at the time". Personally, I don't believe any professional baseball player anymore when they say they haven't taken any type of steroid or performance enhancing drug. Too many of them have proven to be liars.

What has come to be known as "The Steroid Era" has absolutely killed baseball. It has turned off the average fan. Young kids don't want to play baseball anymore because they don't watch baseball anymore. They don't watch baseball anymore by and large because their parents don't watch baseball anymore because they have been turned off by all of the cheating. The numbers and records and statistics of the great players of the past have been shattered by cheaters. And that's exactly what they are: big, fat cheaters. Any player that ever shot up with any type of performance enhancing drug, whether knowingly or not, is a cheater. End of story.

Every couple of months, some big name is leaked by the press as having tested positive for steroids - and baseball takes another big hit. After a few weeks, the shock wears off, only to be followed by another bombshell like today - Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz join the list. Baseball cannot afford to keep taking these types of hits month after month after month.

And so because I love baseball and because I want "The Steroid Era" to be a thing of the past as quickly as possible, Bud Selig, if you are listening, this is what you need to do and do quickly: RELEASE EVERY NAME OF EVERY BASEBALL PLAYER WHO HAS EVER TESTED POSITIVE FOR ANY TYPE OF DRUG. Don't seal anything; don't protect anybody - everybody needs to be outed. And I wouldn't allow any of these players to ever be allowed in the Hall of Fame. Ever.

Doing this would eliminate the need for the endless speculation that goes on every day. It would liberate the players who actually don't cheat and use drugs. It would eliminate the doubt that is cast on non-cheating players who have had fantastic seasons, like Luis Gonzalez (he very well might have cheated, but I don't know. I want to know). It would discourage future players from taking PED's because they won't want the embarrassment of having to admit that they really weren't as good as their statistics said they were. It would eliminate all the lying idiots like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds who both will probably go to prison for lying under oath to federal grand juries. But most importantly, it will allow baseball to begin the healing process. And baseball fans, like me, want that more than anything.