We all have read the newspapers, seen the website banter, and listened to his interview with Peter Gammons. We know all about A-Rod using steroids between 2001-2003 as a Ranger. But, what we don't know is whether or not this will forever tarnish any records he will have, or shatter his chances at Cooperstown.
I listed to Mike Francesa rip people new ones all day for being stupid about this, and not paying attention to what actually happened. Then I watched the exclusive interview with Peter Gammons and A-Rod. A-Rod is going to be on trial with all sports fans, teams, MLB and anyone with ears that likes sports for a long time to come for several reasons -- A-Rod will probably break Bonds homerun record (thank God), he makes more money than anyone else in the game, and he plays for a team whose fans demand perfection, wins, and nothing short of a God like performance he is capable of. Not to mention he plays in the most media critical city.
A-Rod was asked if he thinks that this will destroy his chances at the hall, and his reply was, "I hope not, but I don't get a vote". He followed that up by saying that he hopes that people will see his career as consistent throughout, and before and after he was using steroids. He was putting up numbers before 2001, and he continued to put them up after 2003. He managed to win MVP in 2007 win no steroids. I agree with him on his stats, without question they are consistent. He looked more than apologetic in the interview and was admittedly guilty. Despite the fact he can't win a World Series to save his life, he does love the game, and plays it well from April-September.
Personally, I don't want to see him left out of the Hall of Fame despite not wanting Bonds, McGwire, or Sosa in. They used steroids for a consistently a long period of time supposedly and then acted real shady about what happened. Now A-Rod, if he tested clean at all other points in is career should be allowed a mistake. I don't say this because he is a Yankee because I don't really care for him on the Yankees, I liked him better on other teams. Pettitte made a mistake and admitted he was wrong, and that is fine with me. He did something dumb, he owned up to it, he stopped and moved on. If that is the case with A-Rod, who can fault him for something like that? Most of us have all done something dumb, be it smoking pot or something like that, we (hopefully) saw it was dumb and no longer did it. Because of his contract, his status, and his love of drama in the media this is going to be interesting.
10 years from now when/if A-Rod retires who knows what people will think. Maybe he ends up not getting in on the first ballot as a punishment, or not in at all.
I'm just wondering how everyone else feels, or what you guys think about it. My thoughts are a little jumbled, but I think you can get the idea.
I like what Rodriguez said in his interview, that he used performance enhancing drugs, and not steroids. Everyone wants to percecute these ballplayers for using steroids but, in most cases, they weren't considered/labeled steroids then. I'm not sticking up for these guys, because I initially ridiculed A-Rod. However, the substances these guys were taking were not illegal, not banned by MLB and not thought of as steroids when they took them. When I hear ballplayers say they didn't, or unknowingly, take steroids then I believe them now because at the time, they weren't labeled as steroids.
ReplyDeleteI think we're going to have to make a decision on how much steroids matter to us. If we're going to keep out players who may have used them, we're not going to have any new Hall of Famers for a long time.
ReplyDeleteIf we want to keep the Cooperstown economy going, we need to accept that steroids were part of the game for the better part of two decades.
That means we need to put McGwire in next year, we need put Barry Bonds in when he's eligible, and we need to put A-Rod in when his career is over.
I'm pretty much sick of the steroid issue & I wish it would go away.
I just talked to my brother about this and he said I'm naive for thinking A-Rod will get into the HOF, yet the others will be left out. He said no way, I don't know if I'm convinced.
ReplyDeleteI also just read an article in USA Today Sports Weekly about MLB granting a study of the effects of HGH on lab rats, and how it could effect humans after surgery. Apparantly MLB does 4 or 5 studies like this per year.
Has anyone noticed that the government isn't charging any of these ballplayers with illegal drug violations? It's because the government has no case. Instead, the government is going after Bonds for perjury. And if Bonds stated that he didn't, or unknowingly didn't, take steroids, then the government may not have a case.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you for the most part, Marie, but I think A-Rod is a sure thing first ballot Hall of Famer, and I'm starting to think that guys like Bonds and Clemens should be too. The whole era is tainted and you can't put all the blame on a few players. You can check out all of my thoughts here.
ReplyDeleteThe last I read, HGH is still legal and as far as I know, MLB can't/doesn't test for it.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we like what he says at this point at all? He had no problem with a bald-faced lie to Katie Couric more than a year ago--and a mental lightweight like Couric is no interrogator like Mike Wallace. Rodriguez is talking (some) truth at this point only as PR damage control, because information about getting caught cheating was made public.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to stop here--I can go on too easily about this subject, and about what lame standards of conduct pass for acceptable in today's world.
If A-Rod continues to put up solid numbers he should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I'm not a Yankee fan and do not think taking PEDs sets a good example, however, how many other people have bent or broken MLB's rules and still gotten into the Hall over the years? How many spit-ball pitchers, corked bats, or other things have all been forgotten? PEDs do not make hitting a curveball or 90 MPH fastball any easier. The clan that took steroids merely jumped on the bandwagon of their era, just like previous generations did in theirs.
ReplyDeleteTodd- I see your point. Most of us have lowered our standards, but not for the same reasons. If you read through some of the other comments, and take a look at Fielder's Choice's blog on the subject he makes a good case. It was an era of baseball, much like anything else it was found to be banned later on. I'm not defending these guys, and I get that he lied and then tried to cover it up but he lied to Katie Couric, not the Supreme Court. If he never knew he tested positive, why tell her anything? Now my thing is, if he is found to be telling to the truth by looking at other tests he has taken, can we fault him and punish him at that point? I'm not sure we could.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason "performance enhancing drugs" came into use in the first place is because we, as humans, dig the long ball. With that being said, are they really a bad thing? What players want to do to their bodies is their business, in my opinion, but if it makes them better on the field, then why not? Pitchers duels are great, but for the most part, people want to see numbers on the scoreboard.
ReplyDeleteI used to (and still do for the most part) really not like A-Rod. I find him arrogant, overrated, and worst of all, a Yankee. I have to admit though that the details surrounding him testing positive are sketchy at best, and I almost feel bad for him right now. I want to know everyone else who's on that list. How many more "legit" stars who are supposed to resurrect the game are on that list? It's not fair that just A-Rod has to deal with this right now, when there may be scores of others who are just as guilty. Granted, none of the other names could ever have the impact his does, but that doesn't make it any fairer.
Steroids should become legal in baseball, and then we can have the Steroid League vs. the Clean League every year. It'll almost be like wrestling, the good guys vs. the bad guys. The other names on that list could make this interesting. It's not like Bonds and Big Mac aren't already bad guys...
beardy, you're right. If we knew all the names on this list, we may find the guys who tested positive a shock. I agree that A-Rod is not the only one on there, and I'm not his biggest fan as a Yankee despite being a Yankee fan. But, he does tend to surround himself in drama and with his personality, and contract this kind of crap may always end up happening to him.
ReplyDeleteNYHitman - HGH is definitely not legal, unless prescribed by a doctor. Just because they weren't banned by the MLB doesn't mean they were legal - HGH/steroids were and remain very illegal.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and the other part to that is that MLB had a rule that players couldn't take medication without a prescription. Therefore, taking PEDs without a prescription was against federal and baseball rules.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem was that there were no punishments in place on the MLB level.
I'm still on the fence about this. I think there needs to be more time to collect data on the entire era and I'm sure he won't be the last person that we hear about.