Rules Are Rules

Baseball, cycling, the NFL…all three sports have been affected by the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Of the three, the NFL appears to be relatively unstained by the taint of PEDs. Baseball and cycling have the façade of more sophisticated gentlemen participating in their sports, sports in which the stench of doping cannot be tolerated among those in their elite communities of sportsmen.


THE STUFF FROM THE SOUTH END OF A NORTH BOUND BULL

Professional sports are filled with ruthless competitors whose job it is to win. The athletes did not magically transform the first day they cashed a check to participate in their sports. They have been wired since childhood to be intense competitors. This competitive drive is what enabled these athletes to rise to the elite level that enabled them to compete professionally in the first place.

Baseball and cycling have suffered from black eyes as their biggest stars (in the case of cycling, its only star, Lance Armstrong) have been either caught using PEDs or had more evidence suggesting PED use pile up against them than they can explain. The pattern is fairly consistent. Adamant denial of willful PED use (or any PED use) by the athlete in question is followed by more evidence that there was intentional, continued PED use. This is often followed by a media circus involving finger pointing by the accused, rumors and innuendo.

If there is a positive PED test involved, the athlete apologizes, sometimes trying to whitewash the incident by saying he did it to help his team or for the fans. If there is no smoking gun, the accused will continue the denial, in spite of indictments and/or convictions for perjury, until it is more beneficial to that athlete’s interests to have a mea culpa and fess up.

MLB and the ICU 1

OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

I got tired just thinking about all of the twists and turns that these guys put themselves and the public through in an effort to control the damage done by their PED use. None of the continued negative publicity can help the perceived integrity of any sport. This brings me back to the NFL.

We all know that the NFL has PED use. Suspensions are doled out, seemingly, every week. Yet we seldom see articles or hear discussions in the media about the NFL’s PED problem. I cannot think of a single NFL player whose public image has been irreparably damaged by PED accusations although I lost track of the different players busted and suspended for PED use. Why?

First and foremost, the NFL “don’t play that”. NFL locker rooms became infested by steroids in the 1970s, according to former player statements. The NFL took proactive measure after proactive measure, beginning in the 1980s, to screen and penalize players abusing any questionable substance. Today, that list of substances includes an endless list of products available over the counter at the GNC in a shopping center. I personally think that the policy is a bit overreaching and unreasonable, but what I cannot accuse the NFL of doing is being soft on PED use. The league has a policy with specific, progressive penalties.

Most importantly, when a player’s punishment is over, it’s over. To borrow a line from rapper Willie D. of the Geto Boys, “You do your time then you come on back.” The NFL does not encourage a post-positive test witch hunt to decide what would have or could have happened had PEDs not been used. The NFL has a culture of players doing everything in their power to help their teams win.

It is a violent game. Careers are short. Players leave everything they have on the field or they will probably not have a job the following week. I think this environment is prohibitive to vilification among peers when a player returns after being caught and punished for using PEDs.

Baseball and cycling had a harder time covering up their inconsistencies than these women did playing Twister. 2

PEOPLE RESPOND TO INCENTIVES

The NFL has a menu of banned substances and specific penalties for breaking the rules. That is its policy. Its culture demands personal responsibility by the players for compliance with the policy, but also considers the penalty, never less than a four game suspension in a 16 game season, to be full payment for the debt incurred to the NFL and its stakeholders. Think of it as a cash and carry ordeal, relatively unremarkable.

Major League Baseball benefitted tremendously from increased interest during the 1990s as home runs were being hit at some of the highest rates in the history of the game. As the expression goes, “chicks dig the long ball”. So did MLB. Until the suspicion and speculation of PED use pushed MLB to react, there was no policy forbidding the use of steroids in baseball. MLB began a program of screening players for steroids, human growth hormone (HGH) and a handful of other substances in 2003. MLB’s policy was reactive and reluctant as were their players to comply with policy and admit guilt in tarnishing the game. Why should they? The game encouraged their behavior.

International cycling regulations, as I understand, can call for drug testing of cyclists multiple times in a single week. I do not follow cycling, but from the discussions I have heard in major sports media, everyone dopes. I don’t mean “everyone” as in “many” or “most”. From what I have heard and read from credible sources, I believe that every last participant in high level international cycling has used PEDs during their professional careers. Armstrong, however, was tested hundreds of times in his career and never had a positive drug test. Yet, he recently confessed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used PEDs. The International Cycling Union (ICU) had a policy that was reactive to the widespread culture of accepted doping, across the board, by its participants. Clearly, its screening methods were ineffective as Armstrong was never screened out through repeated efforts by the ICU process. That environment sounds like one in which non-dopers need not participate if they expect to compete.

Barry Bonds hits a single season record 73rd home run in 2001, at age 36. Bonds, one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game (PEDs or otherwise), had never hit 50 before (or after) the 2001 season. Major League Baseball wanted it; they got it. Own it. 3

INTEGRITY

In the final equation, the NFL has a black-and-white policy with specific, stated consequences and very little encouragement of speculation of additional questionable activities or results outside of the process. It dealt with a problem and moved on with the business of football. The terms and conditions are clear. The NFL is the king of the sports hill and PED use is not a major topic among football fans.

Baseball also had clear terms and conditions. Players could use steroids without MLB imposed consequences prior to 2003. There would be penalties after 2003. However, players, MLB administrators, and writers want to live in an alternative reality in which that was not the case. It was. The public knows it. Continued denial, such as the Baseball Writers Association of America pretending that Hall of Fame players during the era did not advance the sport and did not represent the elite players of the era (whose competitive landscape was dictated by Major League Baseball’s deliberate inaction on PEDs), is met with reactions from mockery to indifference by John Q. Fan.

Cycling, apparently, is openly corrupt. Yet the ICU presents a front that no corruption is tolerated. In fact, contempt for Lance Armstrong among his peers appears to be fueled by his attempts to cover up his doping to preserve his manufactured image, not the doping itself. Armstrong rubbed people the wrong way for violating the honor amongst thieves, not partaking in it.

When all is said and done, you are what you are. The NFL was never under any delusions about the proliferation of PEDs into its game. They got ahead of the curve, demonstrated an authentic commitment to mitigate the impact of PEDs and remained consistent in the application of its rules. Baseball and cycling reaped the benefits of PEDs just as its participants did. They caved to widespread speculation about the use of PEDs and then attempted to salvage an integrity that it never had by crafting reactionary policies and throwing the same people under the bus that helped promote the sport. As long as those sports serve baloney, the media and the public will continue to call it baloney and return the meal to the kitchen until they see a steak, and no bull.

Sports junkies may be sick and tired of hearing about "The Shield" but there is a reason NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is so passionate, possibly to the point of excess, in defending it. See Major League Baseball as a counter-reference. 4 

1) Image from www.123rf.com
2) Image from www.dipity.com
3) Image from www.bleacherreport.com
4) The NFL Shield is a registered trademark of the National Football League

Roger Clemens Good Ole Days

It appears to be coming closer and closer to a certainty that former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, thanks to a "gaffe" on the witness stand by his buddy, Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, will slip through the fingers of the long arm of the law. Today's photo is inspired by the Clemens trial. The incidents in question took place at a time when Clemens was an American sports hero, beloved.

Also beloved by many a red blooded man were the photos of Clemens' wife, Debbie, in the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Personally, I'd have rather they cropped Roger out.

Image from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

600 Home Runs? Don’t Call Us! We’ll Call You.

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Jim Thome hit his 600th career home run last night, becoming just the 8th player in the 142 year history of Major League Baseball to reach that milestone. Since then, I have heard substantial debate on TV and radio over whether or not Thome’s 600th homer should automatically put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

Home Run #600 1

SCREEEEECH!

REALLY? THIS is open for DEBATE? REALLY? The number of men who have played the game, in its history, is estimated at 17,000, according to the countless talking heads who opined on Thome’s feat last night. Thome is the 8th player, ever, to hit 600 home runs and the second fastest ever (fewest at bats) to reach 600, after Babe Ruth.

Keep in mind that 3,000 hits, in comparison, is generally considered a milestone that makes a player’s Hall of Fame induction a slam dunk. There have been 28 players to cross that threshold, with surefire Hall of Famer Derek Jeter being the latest to join that elite club.

Until the controversy of the “Steroid Era” in baseball, 500 home runs was the career bogey that would automatically punch a player’s ticket to Cooperstown. There have only been 25 players to hit 500 or more home runs in a career, a club last joined by Gary Sheffield in 2009 and more elite than the “3,000 club”.

Hall of Fame Voters: "Hey Jim! Congrats on 600 home runs. We just voted; too bad you lost! We don't really count performance anymore!" 2

JUICING! GOT ‘EM CRA-ZY!

I am not ignoring the elephant in the room. Yes, Thome played the best years of his entire career in baseball’s “steroid era”. I could go on a complete sidebar and make a case for most of the great players of the era associated with the suspicion of performance enhancing drug (P.E.D.) use; I think any reasonable adjustment for the steroid factor in those players would still result in Hall of Fame worthy production. However, Thome is in NO WAY associated with any of the P.E.D. scandals.

Baseball writers, who vote for Hall of Fame inductions, are not necessarily the most rational evaluators of a baseball career. Unlike pro football’s Hall of Fame, baseball’s Hall of Fame considers factors beyond playing baseball for inducting baseball players. Pete Rose has more hits than any player in the history of baseball, yet he has been kept out of the Hall of Fame due to gambling indiscretions that occurred during his time as a manager, after his playing days were over. Every player whose name has been associated with steroids, in any way, has been effectively blacklisted from the Hall.

I have no objection with writers having their set of standards, as long as they are uniform and rational. Somehow I think the stink of the steroid scandals of the late ‘90s and early 2000’s has infected the minds of sports’ opinion-givers. The juicing by players has somehow, vicariously affected the judgment of sports journalists.

Baseball Writers of America send a message that Manny had the right idea when they double talk about guys like Jim Thome. 3

RED HEADED STEPCHILD IN RARE COMPANY

Thome has zero…ZE-RO…known connections to any of the sins of the Steroid Era. His character during his tenure as a player has been unimpeachable. And, juice or no juice, the list of players reaching the “600 Club” before him, depending on your font, would take up less than two lines on paper. Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and Jim Thome…that’s it!

If the steroid scandal never happened, all of these players, with their numbers, are among the greatest of all time. Yet Thome’s rap sheet is clean by all accounts and sports writers and broadcasters are posing Thome’s first ballot Hall of Fame candidacy as a QUESTION? REALLY?

Hall of Fame Roll Call: "Ruth, Aaron, Mays, Thome...THOME? Okay! Someone switched my roll! Stop playing around here and put the original one back! Thome...very cute." 4

THE STEROID ERA IS OVER…GET OVER IT!

Baseball writers with a vote for the Hall of Fame, collectively, have an inflated sense of self-worth and an alienating level of self-righteousness. I have heard multiple accounts of writers who simply refuse to vote “yes” on a first ballot on general principle, especially due to the Steroid Era. I think there is little doubt that players connected to P.E.D. use have been blacklisted.

I cannot tell another man how to think, especially if that man is more knowledgeable on a topic than I am. I can expect consistency in standards when a man speaks, and a Hall of Fame vote is possibly the most powerful form of speech in the sports world. Get past the steroid era; get over it, and don’t ever think twice, again, about whether or not Jim Thome belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Save the 'roid references for someone who earned it. 5

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1) Image from cleveland.com
2) Image from chicagotribune.com
3) Image from realtalkthemag.com
4) Image from cgi.ebay.com
5) Image from rumorsandrants.com

WWMD – What Would Manny Do?



Manny being Manny 1

It appears that the colorful career of Manny Ramirez came to an end on Friday. Ramirez announced his retirement from the Tampa Bay Rays after it was revealed that he failed a drug test for performance enhancing drugs for the second time. Under Major League Baseball rules, Ramirez would have faced a 100 game suspension. A subsequent infraction would have resulted in a lifetime ban.

The sports media has covered every angle of how this latest, and possibly final, episode in The Saga of Man Ram would affect Ramirez’s legacy. Will this kill his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame? Was Ramirez arrogant or stupid (or both)? Was his “Manny being Manny” act a rouse to minimize the fallout when he decided that Manny was going to do what Manny wanted to do when Manny wanted to do it? What does this latest chapter say about his career?

At least Manny didn't leave us guessing as to whether he'd continue playing. 2

The Daily Hat Trick is a drop of water in the ocean of sports writing. I am glad to have every one of you reading this blog. So I feel that I owe you a little more than the same cliché drivel that you can find on any major sports site anywhere.

Very briefly, my opinion on Manny’s career is as follows. Manny Ramirez was a colorful and somewhat eccentric personality during his time in the majors. He was also one of the most precise and feared hitters in the majors. Even during his “slumps”, except for his short time in Tampa, he was still better than all but the most elite.

His stat sheet speaks for itself and he would have my vote for the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Baseball has rules and all of Manny’s achievements happened within the parameters of those rules. I am not a fan of revisionist sports history. What happened on the field happened. I am also fully aware that the Baseball Writers Association of America will have a different view for decades to come.

With all of that said, my thoughts for today are not what was, but what could be. Manny’s eccentricity endeared him to fans everywhere he played, until it was time for him to go. Manny was Manny and marched to the beat of his own drummer. Whether you liked it or not, his value at the plate was unquestionable. How would Manny’s demeanor on the diamond translate into real life situations? What would Manny do?

By the way, is it a coincidence that the acronym for “what would Manny do” contains the letters “WMD”?


Car Shopping – WWMD?

Salesperson: Well, you’ve taken her for a test drive. We let you check the car out for three days. You’ve installed a custom entertainment system. (sniffs) I can smell the, um, aroma of your fine cigars entrenched in the upholstery. I assume you’ve bought yourself a car, sir?

Manny: I need to sleep on it.

Salesperson: Sleep on it? Mr. Ramirez, I don’t understand. Clearly you have made yourself at home in this car.

Manny: I never signed anything.

Salesperson: Do you have any idea how much you could cost us? What am I supposed to tell my boss?

Manny: Tell him everybody is invited to my house tonight for free drinks!

Manny: "Tell you what. Keep the rims." 3

Public Appearances – WWMD?

Retail Sponsor: Alright, Manny. When the doors open tomorrow, we want the customer to see you and your trademark dreads and “Manny smile”. Everyone that buys something gets an autograph, got it?

Manny: Sure thing! My check cleared already. Whatever you need, man.

(the following day)

Sponsor: Manny! You…cut…your…hair off? WHY?

Manny: It’s hot out here today.

Sponsor: But, but, but…couldn’t you wait until after today? I’d call the whole thing off except we’ve paid you already! How could you do this to us?

Manny: Hey! I didn’t kill nobody; I didn’t rape nobody. So….

Perhaps Manny thought he'd be signing rookie cards. 4

Dating – WWMD?

Friend: Manny, this is Becky, my date. Becky, this is my good friend, Manny.

Becky: I know who you are! Hel-lo!

Manny: Nice to meet you.

Friend: Manny, I am going to run and get us all some drinks. You want anything?

Manny: Naw, I’m good, man.

Even I'd know better than this. 5

(after friend leaves)

Manny: Hey, Becky. You wanna get outta here? We can go to my yacht. I can make you a little something to eat…. I’ll text him. Tell him where to catch up to us.

Becky: Well…that’s all we’re going to do is eat?

Manny: Oh yeahhh! Eat. That’s all!

(Two hours later, the friend climbs on Manny yacht and into the cabin.)

Friend: MANNY! Oh my God! You ditched me at the club and took my date back here to sleep with you?

Manny: I wasn’t sleepin’, man. Besides, you were takin’ too long.

Friend: I was gone for three minutes! How can you live with yourself?

Manny: Hey. I’m just Manny being Manny, man. It’s great!

It was great. Thanks for the memories, Manny! 6

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1) Image from the situationist.wordpress.com
2) Image from bostondirtdogs.boston.com
3) Image from 300cforums.com
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5) Image from drunkathlete.com
6) Image from losthatsportsblog.com

History – Written by the Baseball Writers Association of America

Baseball's Steroid Spiral

As Barry Bonds’ perjury trial enters its second week, the talk among sports media members about players from the steroid era whose Hall of Fame inductions will be delayed or denied has again resumed. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte and other great players from the era may never see their busts in Cooperstown because of the rampant (alleged) use of steroids throughout baseball during their playing days and their rumored/alleged used of steroids and/or other performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

The same circular arguments have been used against several great players from the 1990s and early 2000s. The numbers are inflated. However, players throughout generations have utilized means of gaining an unfair advantage on the baseball diamond. They had an unfair advantage over those who were not associated with PEDs. However, players felt they had to use the juice to keep up with the other players who were already doing it. I hear every argument under the sun except for arguments related to the actual performance of alleged PED users on the field.

Here is a novel concept (ahem). Major League Baseball, like every other sport, has rules. Each year, the game has an opportunity to, and often does, change the rules. Those situations not adequately covered by existing rules can be addressed in the future. Since, prior to 2003, baseball had neither rules against the use of steroids nor any screening methods in place to identify players using steroids, would it not be a good idea to evaluate the performance of all players and their achievements under the rules of baseball at the time that the players played? GASP! How revolutionary!


Why Were Steroids Allowed to Flourish?
Many a baseball fan, me included, is of the opinion that baseball knowingly turned a blind eye to the use of steroids in the 1990s. Players were blasting home runs out of the park at a record pace and baseball benefited handsomely from the increased interest in the game. This was especially important in the wake of the 1994 player strike, which ended, what was shaping into, a compelling season in the middle of the summer and robbed fans of a postseason and a World Series. Baseball desperately needed to regain its goodwill with its fans.

I didn't hear many complaints or demands for an investigation from baseball writers in 1998. Did you? Bud Selig didn't seem very concerned about the integrity of the game, either. Oh, wait...he still doesn't. 1

To reevaluate the performance of players that recorded their performances within the context of the rules of baseball, at those times, is an attempt to rewrite history. MLB certainly is not going to refund ticket money to the fans or refund broadcasting rights revenues to the dozens of local and national television networks covering the games during those years. Perhaps a rewrite of the record books would be more suitable under those circumstances.

Likewise, I have never heard about the Baseball Hall of Fame reevaluating the enshrinement of players from the Dead Ball Era. I have witnessed no attempts to discount the strikeouts thrown by pitchers before the pitching mound was lowered in the late 1960s or reevaluate the play of American League players prior to the adoption of the designated hitter. Players were judged based upon the rules that baseball had in place at the time they were playing.

Writers Had Their Cake. Now They Want to Eat It!

Voters control who gets into the Hall of Fame, in spite of the opinions of the fans that invested their money and time into the game to make it profitable and meaningful. They choose to either not acknowledge or marginalize with an asterisk the greatness of the accomplishments of players that were alleged to have used steroids prior to baseball ever having a rule against steroids. None of these players had any positive drug tests, administered by Major League Baseball, prior to 2003 and I am unaware of any players that tested positive in the “anonymous” 2003 tests (which had a few dozen names leak to the public) having any repeat positive tests, going forward. Their contributions may be ignored, in spite of playing and achieving within the rules.

Okay...even SHE can't have her cake and eat it too! And I doubt she resembles anyone in the BBWAA. 

The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) conducts the vote to select players to the Hall of Fame. I cannot help but wonder how history books would look if these wizards of time and space, with the ability to give history a make over, had written them. I also cannot help but wonder if each of them owns a DeLorean with a Flux Capacitor.


Making History...Literally
On the death of Christ….

History writers: Jesus Christ was crucified in the fourth decade of the first century, A.D., charged with sedition against the Roman Empire, under the orders of Pontius Pilate. His hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross. He suffered excruciating pain before dying.

Baseball writers: The death penalty has been a part of civilization since the dawn of man. The Romans conducted executions, such as that of Jesus*, through crucifixion. Crucifixion involved no poisonous gasses, electrocution, strangling, firing squads, or injection of lethal poison.

* Jesus Christ was crucified in the fourth decade of the first century, A.D., charged with sedition against the Roman Empire, under the orders of Pontius Pilate. His hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross. He suffered excruciating pain before dying.


On the Black Plague….

History writers: The Bubonic plague was a disease that killed over 100 million people, slowly and painfully, in the 14th century. Most of Europe’s population, and over 20% of the world’s population, were killed by the plague. It is possibly the most devastating pandemic in the recorded history of man.

Baseball writers: Before the development of modern science and medicine, pandemics were difficult to combat. The Black Plague* was particularly challenging. It eventually subsided.

* The Bubonic plague was a disease that killed over 100 million people, slowly and painfully, in the 14th century. Most of Europe’s population, and over 20% of the world’s population, were killed by the plague. It is possibly the most devastating pandemic in the recorded history of man.

Baseball writers would have you think that THIS was a typical scene for a Black Plague patient. 3

On the Civil War….

History writers: The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the deadliest war in American history, with well over 600,000 people killed in action and countless more wounded. The central issue, which led to the succession of Southern states that prompted the war, was slavery. Long reaching political, social, economic, and cultural effects of the war, from the assassination of President Lincoln to often painful challenges related to race relations, persisted in the U.S. after the war and can still be observed today, over 150 years later.

Baseball writers: Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States of America from 1861 until his death in 1865 from cranial trauma. Lincoln oversaw many victories in military conflicts during his time in office*. He also took steps to dramatically improve the pay and working conditions of African-Americans in the South, albeit with a sharp rise in the black unemployment rate.

* The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the deadliest war in American history, with well over 100,000 people killed in action and countless more wounded. The central issue, which led to the succession of Southern states that prompted the war, was slavery. Long reaching political, social, economic, and cultural effects of the war, from the assassination of President Lincoln to often painful challenges related to race relations, persisted in the U.S. after the war and can still be observed today, over 150 years later.

John Sherman must have been making his pitch to join the BBWAA. 4

On Nazi Germany….

History writers: Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany during World War II. Considered, possibly, the most evil regime in modern history, Hitler and his lieutenants were responsible for the Holocaust, a mass genocide resulting in the deaths of 6,000,000 Jews. Allied forces, consisting largely of the United States, Britain, and Russia, were able to defeat Hitler and his Axis, including Italy and Japan.

Baseball writers: Adolf Hitler* was a very naughty man. His interests often conflicted with those of Jewish people living in Europe during his reign. He was eventually removed from power.

* Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany during World War II. Considered, possibly, the most evil regime in modern history, Hitler and his lieutenants were responsible for the Holocaust, a mass genocide resulting in the deaths of 6,000,000 Jews. Allied forces, consisting largely of the United States, Britain, and Russia, were able to defeat Hitler and his Axis, including Italy and Japan.

BBWAA headlines, circa 1945. 5

On the Kennedy Assassination….

History writers: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Video footage shows Kennedy enduring multiple gunshots before (what was likely) a fatal shot struck him in the head. The final shot was particularly graphic, showing the leakage of a substantial amount of tissue, likely blood, skull, and brain matter.

Baseball writers: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963*

* President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Video footage shows Kennedy enduring multiple gunshots before (what was likely) a fatal shot struck him in the head. The final shot was particularly graphic, showing the leakage of a substantial amount of tissue, likely blood, skull, and brain matter.

Baseball writers' caption: "President Kennedy on his final day in office." 6

Baseball writers have a God given gift. With a few strokes of a pen or taps on a keyboard, they can make life’s events more palatable and acceptable. We should all aspire to emulate their version of reality!



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1) Image from clubhousecancer.com

2) Image from flickr.com

3) Image from zimbio.com

4) Image from civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com

5) Image from littlemissjournalist.wordpress.com

6) Image from prisonplanet.com

Alex Rodriguez's 600th HR IS a Big Deal

And...for the second day in a row I am cornered into defending a sports personality that I am not too crazy about. Alex Rodriguez is about to join the 600 HR club and now the same tired old arguments are being brought up that since he came up positive on the "secret" and "random" steroids screening that took place in 2003.

1) Steroids were not against the rules of baseball until the 2003 season (after the "random" testing. Baseball is complicit because it wanted super-players.

2) There are only six men in that club, in this order - Bonds, Ruth, Aaron, Mays, Griffey, Jr., and Sosa - of the (soon to be) four men to enter that club in the last 10 years, three have the cloud of steroids and A-Rod has been confirmed. You might me able to draw dividing lines within the club, but baseball has had over 17,000 players in its history and 141 seasons of history. And there are only 7 men, ever, in that club.

3) Anyone who has ever played the game at any level knows that steroids aren't going to help you hit a baseball. It might help bat speed, it might give you some strength, and it might make you come back from injury more quickly, but it will not help you size up the pitcher, identify the pitch, and put a round bat to a round ball. That's talent. Steroids (or anything else) didn't do much to help the other 17,000 people hit the ball like that.

So is A-Ro(i)d on the level of Griffey, Mays, Aaron, or Ruth? You could argue that he isn't. It's still an amazing accomplishment worthy of recognition.