Author: Dean DeChiaro
When it was revealed a few weeks ago that A-Rod had engaged in the use of PED’s (he never used the word “steroids”) there was immediate outrage in the baseball community, which is, of course, completely warranted and understandable. Baseball is a huge part of my life, and for me and every other baseball fan out there, it’s been a rotten few years. Actually, it’s been a rotten decade.
In 1998, baseball fans witnessed two players go after the same title. We hadn’t seen a home run race like McGwire and Sosa since Maris and Mantle in 1961. Sammy Sosa was never accused of using steroids, but Sammy Sosa didn’t win that year. Mark McGwire became the All-Time Home Run King, and we know that was tainted. On deck was Barry Bonds in 2007, for whom I have absolutely no respect. The man was a fantastic baseball player when he was stick thin, but then he starting juicing and can barely run the bases now.
Alex Rodriguez held the hopes of every baseball fan that was left after Bonds went downhill. He reached the 500 home-run mark faster than any other player in history and the question shifted from “Would A-Rod break the record?” to “When will A-Rod break the record?” Over the course of the past few seasons, my thought process was that baseball was going through a rough patch; some really dark times, but sometime in the next five seasons, A-Rod was going to lead us out of the storm and into the golden skies. With one swing of his bat, this man was going to save baseball.
I’m much more forgiving of A-Rod than I was of Bonds or McGwire for a few reasons. The first is that A-Rod is a Yankee. I may be a baseball fan above a Yankee fan, but I bleed pinstripes. Say what you will about New York baseball fans, but we stick behind our players. We may boo A-Rod when he strikes out with the bases loaded in the playoffs but when push comes to shove, we stand behind our players like every fan should. So as disappointed in A-Rod as I am, I forgive him as a Yankee fan, simply because I want to win.
The second reason I’m more forgiving of A-Rod is because he was the same age I am now when he entered the Major Leagues. Before you crucify the man, think about that. He was the same age as a college freshman, and younger than the rest of us, when he was put on the biggest stage in the world, and asked to perform. He began his career in Seattle, where he never did PED’s. Well, there wasn’t as much pressure in Seattle to be perfect as there was in Texas where he did take the steroids. In Seattle, other superstars accompanied him. Ken Griffey Jr. (who would have been the Home Run King if not for his chronic injuries) and Edgar Martinez (who was the greatest Designated Hitter in history) and Randy Johnson (the most dominant southpaw in history) all played for the Mariners, so A-Rod had some breathing room.
He goes to Texas. Who are his teammates on the Rangers? Ken Caminiti, who was kind of a good player and Pudge Rodriguez, who despite being one of the greatest catchers ever has never achieved superstar status. A-Rod was literally brought to Texas and expected to single-handedly win the Rangers a World Series. So he takes some PED’s. He’s not a god.
There is definitely enough about this story to admit that A-Rod’s numbers are tainted, but we can’t crucify him. McGwire, Bonds, and Roger Clemens . . . those are guys we can crucify. They did steroids because they didn’t have the gift before hand. Nobody mentions McGwire or Bonds on a list of the greatest hitters in baseball, because we know they did steroids, and that’s why they could hit. Prior to his three years in Texas, A-Rod hit 189 home runs with Seattle. Since Texas, in his time with the Yankees, he’s hit 208. With Texas, from 2001 to 2003, he hit 156.
It’s sketchy, I know, and it sucks. It sucks that we have to wait for another player to come around and save baseball. But although A-Rod was not the sport’s savior as a lot of us thought he was, he’s still a great baseball player. He’s still going to hit a ton of home runs, and he’s still going to break the record. And someday, baseball will be saved; we just haven’t yet discovered by whom.
Dean DeChiaro is a first-year Hisory major. He can be reached at dechiaro@oxy.edu.
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