'Roids

Life hasn't quite been the same after the revelation that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2003 and his admission that he did use banned substances during the 2001-2003 seasons.

Not that I'm shocked. After learning about how ubiquitous performance-enhancing substances have been in baseball over the last 10-15 years, it's foolish to be surprised by revelations like this. Steroids, HGH, The Clear, etc, etc, all putting a stain on the game.

A few thoughts. First, as far as I'm concerned, the baseball establishment itself is to blame for much of this mess. They did not have any punishment in place for players who used PEDs until 2004. How preposterous is that? The National Football League had a drug policy in place 15 years before that. So with that being said, can you really blame guys like Bonds, Canseco, McGwire, Palmeiro, Sosa and Clemens for trying to maximize their performance potential when it wasn't against baseball's rules to use these substances? Personally, I do not. When Bud Selig stated that he was considering some sort of punishment for A-Rod, I was incredulous. There is simply no justification for a punishment (assuming A-Rod is being truthful with his timeline) due to baseball's long time negligence in addressing the issue seriously. It's kinda like disciplining an employee for putting lunch charges on his expense report last month after a company policy was officially put in place - it wasn't exactly ethical, but it was still within the letter of the law. The baseball players' union is to blame for not voluntarily agreeing to drug testing (news flash: these drugs are not healthy and even potentially dangerous for your union members!), and Major League Baseball is to blame for not demanding that drug testing policies be put in place and enforced; the fans are spending lots of money to watch all those homeruns, so why mess with a good thing? Both the Union and MLB got dragged kicking and screaming into drug testing, and for that they share in the shaming of the game.

Second, it's just disappointing and sad to find this out about A-Rod. When Bonds (762) broke Hank Aaron's all-time homerun record (755), not very many people felt it was a legitimate record due to his likely steroid use. (To this day, people think that the season homerun totals of Bonds, McGwire and Sosa are tainted and still feel that Roger Maris holds the season homerun record at 61.) Baseball fans generally felt that the career homerun record would be broken by A-Rod (he's only 33 years old and already has 553 homeruns in his career), and it would not be compromised by steroid allegations. But, alas, if and when Rodriguez does break the mark by Bonds, a cloud will remain overhead until someone breaks A-Rod's record who is verified NOT to have been "on the juice."

Who leaked this information from the supposedly confidential drug testing survey in 2003? Out of nearly 1200 players tested, 104 of them tested positive (about 8%). Who revealed A-Rod's test result over five years later, and why weren't any or all of the other 103 players "outed" at the same time? At the very least, it's very fishy, if not downright scandalous. Did this anonymous source have some sort of vendetta against A-Rod? Why aren't we hearing about an investigation here?

Further, I find these "confessions" (or lack thereof) from players who admit past PED use to be a story in themselves. A-Rod is repeating his mantra, "I was young, I was stupid, I was naive" (a little too often for my taste). Bonds is on the record saying he did not "knowingly" use any illegal substances. Andy Pettitte initially admitted to using HGH twice in 2002, but then later admitted to also using it twice in 2004. Jason Giambi has said, "I'm sorry," without specifically saying what he is sorry about. Mark McGwire says he doesn't want to revisit the past and just wants to look to the future of baseball. Sammy Sosa apparently can't speak English too well when the subject of PEDs comes up in a Congressional hearing. Roger Clemens (and others), of course, continue to deny ever using any PEDs despite overwhelming physical evidence and accusations and testimony from former trainers and/or associates. Media coverage of this stuff is never ending.

But that, oddly, is the best part of this whole sordid scene. There is a reason why the media covers this ad nauseum. Spring training started a couple of weeks ago and we're already talking about whether Manny will sign with the Dodgers and whether the Yankees will have three 20-game winners and if the Royals will be this year's Tampa Bay Rays. People simply love baseball. They love the history of the game. People are familiar with baseball statistics and historical figures far more readily than in football or basketball. There is no 755 in basketball. There is no Babe Ruth in football. Those sports certainly have their niche in this country, but no sport defines America more than baseball.

And that's why baseball will rise up above this mess and find its way through the many layers of muck. It's guaranteed.