Can you tell the story of baseball without steroids?
Legitimately, when they write a book about baseball what would the chapters be named? Would there be a chapter about steroids and the ‘arms race’ between Sosa, Bonds and McGwire?
The answer is simply yes. They brought fans into the game. Based on numbers from Major League Baseball, TV ratings spiked during the 1998 baseball season when the cheating duo of McGwire and Sosa was blasting a grand total of 136 homeruns, combined (McGwire edged Sosa 70-66). Ever since their homerun race baseball has lost massive viewership, hitting an all-time low this past season with the 2014 World Series.
Steroids breathed life into baseball. People were glued to their television to watch guys so ‘roided out that their eyes were yellow. They wanted to see if a second baseman could hit a second deck, opposite field homerun. The style dubbed as ‘Texas baseball,” where it’s a “grip it” and “rip it” mentality, is fun to watch. Small ball gets old, and getting doubled to death is heart breaking. Homeruns is what I want to see and, apparently, so does the rest of America.
How can the argument be made that these players do not belong in the Hall of Fame? Oh, right, because they cheated. I’m sure Babe Ruth never stole a pitching sign once in his life. Why can’t Sosa and McGwire both get enshrined to the “Steroid Wing” in the Hall of Fame? Oh, right, because they sullied the name of baseball. Newly enshrined Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez throwing down an old Don Zimmerman during a bench clearing brawl looks really good on the sport, too.
They should get their own wing called the “Roid Ring.” Maybe some sort of Macho Man Randy Savage intro music could be playing as you walk into the room. The likes of Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds have plaques. This way a major chapter in baseball’s story is told. Also, players like Mike Piazza finally get into the Hall after being convicted guilty by association to the steroid era.
Baseball can either embrace an exciting time in their history, or let it die and pretend that nothing ever happened, at the cost of influential players.
