Well, the topic jumped to the top of the media again the last few weeks as Alex Rodriguez (one of the best players in the game) was caught and admitted to taking steroids (after he had previously denied it). It is getting to the point that if a player was any good during the 1998-2003 seasons, we may as well assume they had taken steroids. Actually, even average players may have been using during this time just to make them "average" (according to the list of players who have been caught). Those years will be forever known as the "Steroid Era".
But the big question now is what to do about it. There are a lot of arguments about the Hall of Fame (should players caught with steroids get in...and how do you know for sure who took them and who didn't?), questions surrounding broken records (should Hank Arron get his HR record back since Bonds took steroids?), whether or not we should just erase those years from baseball history, etc.
To me...this all boils down to one major point --- ENTERTAINMENT. That's what baseball is all about. Major League Baseball needs us (fans) in order to survive. How do they survive? They entertain us, and we pay to go to games, buy apparel, allow them to get advertising dollars by watching games on TV, etc. Right now the arguments seem to center on the players...it's all about them...but I think the center should be on the fans since we are the ones that keep the league going (would these players still play 182 games a year for free? Don't think so).
As a fan, I absolutely LOVED the 1998 season (Mark McGuire/Sammy Sosa Home Run Chase), and so did everyone else. In a strike shortened 1994 season, only 50 million fans went to major league games. People were fed up with baseball after that and only 50 million fans went to games during the entire 1995 season. But as the Home Run Chase Year began (and the steroid era) in 1998, over 70 million fans attended games...over 40% growth! That season has been called "The Season That Saved Baseball" and for good reason.
As fans, most of us like to see the long ball. I always loved going to batting practice an hour before the game (in 1999, I caught 11 baseballs at the left-field wall during batting practice and would always give them to little kids hoping to get a ball). All fans tuned into their TV's to see Sosa and McGuire at-bats that would automatically interupt whatever was on ESPN.
I am certainly not excusing illegal behavior or saying (as some have suggested) that steroids were necessary for baseball. But MLB needs to turn to its main source...the fans for some perspective. I don't care so much about the records --- after all there are more games in a year now, the fences are shorter, the equipment is better, etc, etc, etc. There are a lot of arguments that today's records aren't fair even outside of steroids.
So as the players continue to deny, argue, fight, apologize, etc --- the fans care about one thing --- keep playing ball and keep us entertained. We don't care to hear that you would have done just as well without steroids. As my former pastor used to say, "Don't Just Sing it...Bring It!"
1 comment:
I am not surprised by your answer, based on the fact that your track running days are under the same steroid cloud.
- "I can't find my track video."
We know you that you know where it is. It did not just disappear, but was removed when the PIAA started their investigation.
We are all waiting for Johnny's Dubois track records to be back on top of yours.
As for MLB, fans do not want them to just ignore the obvious steroid use. There are things, such as integrity, that are much more important than keeping and gaining fans. MLB will gain fans when they make the rules and stick to them.
Until MLB cleans up the game, even the blimp will just be a huge * flying above.
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