SPANISH HARLEM – Only one player made it into the baseball Hall of Fame this round. His name is David Ortiz… Wait what? While its great for Red Sox Nation and all fans of Big Papi, he is not the real reason I’m writing about Major League Baseball today. It comes down to my stance Cooperstown, particularly in reference to Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
While some people may criticize the Steroid Era in baseball… I loved it! It was a great time for baseball and for many fans like myself. We saw a ton of home runs, records broken and some great baseball. There guys were defying Father Time and continuing to put up some crazy numbers. You had players staying healthy longer and performing at – or above – their peaks.
I am crazy but doesn’t that sound amazing?
They cheated… that’s what most people remember. For me, though, was it really cheating? You have players making a lot of money to be supreme athletes, to stay on the field and perform. Yet, we find fault when those same athletes find ways to make their body work better and faster. I know people are entitled to their opinions and many will not feel the way I do but I know the game has changed and people’s thoughts should too.
Players will always find ways to make themselves better. They eat better, train harder and sleep more but the way I see it, anyone can do that too and much much more. We still think they are destroying their bodies when “PEDs” are uttered, but look at those same athletes that where thought to have cheated the game. I don’t know about you but they look fine to me and their reputations shouldn’t be destroyed because they wanted to be the best.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are two of the best players I saw in my generation and not having them in the Hall of Fame sucks. They deserve to be in there. Bonds is of one the greatest hitters the game has ever seen but his reputation is tainted because he used steroids in a era when almost everyone took something. Clemens may been a di*khead but if he was on your team you loved him and wanted on the mound in big games. Its sad they are not included but I guess that what these old farts want.
That’s it for now. Come back tomorrow for Cavalier Cam James, who went skiing instead of watching his Chiefs suck the life out of Buffalo.
Until next time…
