Baseball: McGwire's Admission Leaves Baseball on Life Support
By: Alex Jacques
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Sports
It's happened again.
Baseball is in another steroid scandal.
Baseball has been, and still is, on life support. We are faced with the reality that the game still exists, almost solely because of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Think about it. Following the 1994 strike, everyone credits Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and the long ball with saving baseball. All three will be forever linked to steroid use. There is no plausible way that we can ever look back on this era with anything other than suspicion.
And so what? We all knew this. We all knew Mark McGwire was on steroids. Every single baseball fan knows what happened. No one can stand up and say they didn't think McGwire used steroids for at least part of his career. No one. You can tell just by looking at the guy. And if bulging biceps and a second forehead didn't clue you in, his 2005 meltdown in front of congress surely told you everything you needed to know. The guy really didn't need to say anything; he was confirming everything we already knew.
And that's what makes this so terrifying.
This shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is. Like I already said, we knew this all along. Everyone of us. Joe Buck knew. On the night McGwire hit number 62 in 1998, he commented, "If you were to build a home run hitter in a lab, he would look like that." That's pretty much exactly what was going on. Players did what they wanted, and the stands filled with fans eager to see home runs and 100 mph fastballs and ligaments popping all over the place.
Baseball got big. Players were suddenly getting paid $30 million to swing a bat, and math nerds were foregoing science labs around the world to sit in the front office of Major League Baseball teams and work out how to mathematically make a team better.
Baseball was the thing to do.
And then Barry Bonds happened. And Jose Canseco. And Rafael Palmeiro. And Roger Clemens. And suddenly, baseball was the culprit. It was baseball's fault that football players were dying from taking veterinary-grade steroids. It was baseball's fault that Lance Armstrong was taking steroids to finish the Tour de France. It was baseball's fault that 16-year-olds around the country were taking steroids to get a six-pack to impress the girl next door. It was baseball's fault that Olympians were taking Human Growth Hormone because it was undetectable, and it was definitely baseball's fault that Greg Valentino had 27-inch biceps.
Baseball is in another steroid scandal.
Baseball has been, and still is, on life support. We are faced with the reality that the game still exists, almost solely because of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Think about it. Following the 1994 strike, everyone credits Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and the long ball with saving baseball. All three will be forever linked to steroid use. There is no plausible way that we can ever look back on this era with anything other than suspicion.
And so what? We all knew this. We all knew Mark McGwire was on steroids. Every single baseball fan knows what happened. No one can stand up and say they didn't think McGwire used steroids for at least part of his career. No one. You can tell just by looking at the guy. And if bulging biceps and a second forehead didn't clue you in, his 2005 meltdown in front of congress surely told you everything you needed to know. The guy really didn't need to say anything; he was confirming everything we already knew.
And that's what makes this so terrifying.
This shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is. Like I already said, we knew this all along. Everyone of us. Joe Buck knew. On the night McGwire hit number 62 in 1998, he commented, "If you were to build a home run hitter in a lab, he would look like that." That's pretty much exactly what was going on. Players did what they wanted, and the stands filled with fans eager to see home runs and 100 mph fastballs and ligaments popping all over the place.
Baseball got big. Players were suddenly getting paid $30 million to swing a bat, and math nerds were foregoing science labs around the world to sit in the front office of Major League Baseball teams and work out how to mathematically make a team better.
Baseball was the thing to do.
And then Barry Bonds happened. And Jose Canseco. And Rafael Palmeiro. And Roger Clemens. And suddenly, baseball was the culprit. It was baseball's fault that football players were dying from taking veterinary-grade steroids. It was baseball's fault that Lance Armstrong was taking steroids to finish the Tour de France. It was baseball's fault that 16-year-olds around the country were taking steroids to get a six-pack to impress the girl next door. It was baseball's fault that Olympians were taking Human Growth Hormone because it was undetectable, and it was definitely baseball's fault that Greg Valentino had 27-inch biceps.
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