On Alex Rodriguez, Steroids, and Why it's Still My Game

I generally don't venture too far away from the White Sox on this blog, but it's hard to be a baseball fan this day in age and not have the cloud of steroids weigh on you eventually, even more so since Saturday's revelation that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for various, illegal drugs in 2003. I've tried to remain as cynical as possible about the level of steroid abuse in the game, but I'll admit that even I was caught off guard by these allegations. Alex Rodriguez? The same guy that was labeled as the next great ballplayer when he was in high school? The guy that hit 36 home runs in 1996; as a 20-year-old in his first full season? He never looked the part; while Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire's biceps looked like they were going to explode out of their arm, even now, A-Rod has always looked like a toned, fit athlete, not a freak bodybuilder. Even for all the criticism that's come his way; he's never given off the same douchebag vibe like Roger Clemens or Bonds. No, even as I tried to convince myself that this really was a league-wide problem and I shouldn't be shocked at any name that is linked to steroid abuse, Saturday's bombshell was just that.

So where to go? The simple thing would be to throw my hands up, say I'm fed up with the game, and try to walk away. But I just can't. Even back in the late-90s and early-00s, the height of the Steroid Era, the same beauty and rhythm of the game was there. While maybe some of the memories are now tarnished (like the McGwire/Sosa Race for 62 in 1998), to say that an entire era is now clouded is false. It was still the same game.

I think its naïve to believe this trend will ever be curbed. I'm sorry, there's too much money to be had by power players. Pitchers who can touch 100 on the gun and hitters who can hit 40 home runs per year are just too in demand. As long as that demand exists, a supply will, too. A new wave of undetectable drugs will be created to satisfy tomorrow's heroes, and when they fall, the cycle will continue. To some, this is the grim reality of all sports, not just baseball. In the end, however, the game remains unchanged, and what occurs between the two white chalk lines is the same as it was 100, 50, or 10 years ago.

We'll never truly know how deep, or for how long, steroid abuse has been a part of baseball. Scientists first started working on anabolic steroids in the 1940s. If you really believe baseball was a clean and pure game until Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire showed up, we'll have to agree to disagree. The difference in the game then and now is not in the character and integrity of the players, rather, in the availability of information. An average American can now access more data from the palms of their hands than someone could get from a whole library. Both good and bad will be revealed, and frankly, people want dirt, secrets, and scandal.

So my love affair with the game will continue, probably unabated. I don't feel as if my sacred trust has been violated. It's a game. It's entertainment. It gives me a few hours to relax from the worries of day-to-day life. As an institution, baseball has survived worse scandals in its past and will likely face more in its future. As a game, it remains the same athletic ballet I remember as a kid and sucker or not, I'll always be hooked.