I have gotten into this argument with almost every one who brings it up. Friends, family members, former players, current players, coaches, and even the television. It is one in which emotional support is closely tied and decisions are based off of different case studies, as it were. It is: The Steroid Era and how it effects Hall of Fame Voting, most particularly in the case of Barry Bonds. Today, January 9, 2013, players such as Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens sit on their first ever Hall of Fame Ballot. All played in The Steroid Era, some labeled as cheaters, some slipped into the baseball ether. Point is, Craig Beggio is going to be the only person on that ballot to reach the Hall (or, at least we thought). You know it, I know it, deal with it. "This person did that, so this guy here is okay" is basically the argument, though. There is something very, very wrong with that. One person's wrong does not make another person's wrong, right; right? Well guess what, I will try to make as much sense of this as possible, but no one I have talked to agrees with me anyway, so here goes nothing.
Here in the Bay Area, we pride ourselves on being sports fans with great allegiance. Every year the fog rolls into Candlestick, or another red-laced Major League Official baseball is tossed, Bay Area locals can be heard up into the wineries of Napa and down in the tech-labs of Silicon Valley. Personally, I am one of the many who, at times, become too intoxicated with San Francisco sports pride. I believe the 2010 San Francisco Giants team was the best in baseball history, I firmly think the fact Raiders fans believe they have a place in the Bay Area is flawed and inappropriate, and I, at a cellular level, will take the side of any Bay Area sports star. Face it, we love our teams. In fact, we love our teams so much we are willing to let a lot of what we believe in slide in order to see success. That, my friends, is wrong.
We all have our personal opinions towards the topic of The Steroid Era in professional baseball. However, before we get into opinions - which are the only thing people stand by anymore - let's look at some statistical information of "The Era." In the early part of the 2000s, after the United States Congress' penalties for steroid possession became too severe, the MLB and then-commissioner Fay Vincent sent a memo to each organization that steroids would be added to the long list of "substances banned" by the league. Around that time, the LA Times released an article where one journalist termed steroids as "the secret we're not supposed to talk about" and Tony Gwynn estimated 30% of professional players were using. Oh, by the way, Jason Giambi denies using at all and praises Mark McGuire as a man who plays the right way. That last part is actually true.
Fast forward to 2004. This is when the MLB actually began testing individual players at "random" for steroid use. In doing so, the league issued five levels of penalties that coincided with illegal usage: 15 games for first offense, 30 for second, 60 for third, an entire season for fourth, and a lifetime league ban for fifth and final offenses. Seems like quite a few slaps on the wrist before an ass gets spanked, yes? I digress, though, let's get back to the story... So, as we moved throughout the year of 2004, not too much happened. Steroids were found on lesser known players, Ken Caminiti became the first star player to admit to using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), dating back to 1996, and for the most part, the MLB felt they had a stronghold - at least in the eyes of the public - over steroid usage and it's involvement with the game.
As 2004 turned to '05 and as 2006 stared us right in the face, a lot happened in baseball's fight against steroids. There is no sense "boring" you with the facts, since none of you use them for the basis of your argument, but basically some guy named Kurt Randomski admitted twice to the IRS that he provided steroids to a number of players, mostly current, and that crazy bastard Jose Canseco began bomb-dropping on former teammates Rafael Palmero, Mark McGuire, Jason Giambi, and even Alex Rodriguez. Those names should all shock you... naaat. Yet here in the Bay Area, we were doing just fine. No rumors, no names. We were just some laid back dope smoking hippies, allegedly (I say allegedly for legal purposes). The Giants finally made it back to a World Series in 2002, Barry Bonds was winning the MVP as if it was going out of style, and no one in a Giants uniform, other than Bobby Estalella (who?), had been caught with or had admitted to using steroids.
Let's make one thing crystal clear, though. When Bonds hit 73 and Palmero was in front of the Grand Jury blatantly lying, if you were not feeling lucky it was not Bonds in that chair, you're lying just as boldly as Palmero was. Bonds' body had completely transformed. He had turned into a fucking terminator. There is no other way to put it, kids: he took steroids. Barry was great, he was a legend, but it does not make what he did right...even if he is a Serra Man. This is not a religion class or a morality lecture. Frankly, everyone lies and cheats, but for us to not see what it will do to people's integrity - that is wrong. People always fall back on, "well Barry never got caught... everybody's doing it... If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin.'"
Just when we thought Barry was out of the wreckage, had gotten past the dark cloud that Major League Baseball had let into the skies, two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, no less, break the story on what is now known simply as BALCO. For those who were too young to spell steroid at the time or are too stupid to respect it's legitimacy now, the BALCO case took dropped bombs on the following: Jason Giambi, who finally admitted, Jeremy Giambi (not just a fictional character in Moneyball), Benito Santiago, and many others. However, the most notable victim, Barry Bonds. In this report, brought to the Grand Jury, Bonds had been receiving steroid injections from his old childhood friend and current weight trainer, Greg Anderson. Bonds had already testified, claiming he did not take steroids, but now was under the apathetic point of view that "I took them, but I did not knowingly take them." What?
It has been reported that during the official years of MLB's Steroid Era, which we can now timeline from 2001-2007, that almost 50% of players were doping, using PEDs, cheating. It was a sad part of baseball. The ramifications of that Era have had serious effects on how the athletic youth view steroids, enhancers, and cheating in general. Now, with most of the key players involved with The Steroid Era out of baseball, their time to be judged has come. However, what do we do as a sports society? Pass it off as commonplace. Claim that cheating has been happening in baseball since the very first pitch. Fail to acknowledge how drastically warped and how statistically skewed baseball has forever become because of The Steroid Era. It is simple-minded to relate steroids and PEDs to "greenies," amphetamines, or even the racial segregation that scared this country for so many years, but I cannot win that argument because it is all cheating. Although I find PEDs to be in completely different category of cheating, all of it is wrong and the game has been tainted for many years. From it's inception, actually. That I do agree with.
So, forget the whole cheating thing. As a society, we have come to understand accepting the idea of cheating is okay, always have, and we always will. In life, I have not always been the most faithful man, so who am I to cast harm on a cheater? And you're right, it's part of the game. We have to acknowledge that. I do not want to be the one who hides from it... The real problem here is the fan. Fans have the ability to build someone up so high, to point of no feasible return, and when that person lets the fans down, there are two ways we handle it. First, there is The Tiger Way. The Tiger Way is our most natural instinct: we have loved an athlete for so long that when news of his wrong-doings come out they are so sick, so disgusting, so evil, that everyone wants to root against him. I, myself, have hated Tiger for awhile, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a classic fist pump from time to time. The second way, is The Barry Bonds Way. This reaction is much more difficult, because he is not completely at fault, kind of. You see, Barry connects with so many people. He is a high school friend, a local celebrity, a man who brought never-ending glory to San Francisco Giants baseball. Barry has done so much for this Area of the country. Yes, he has done so much well that we cannot accept what he has done wrong.
As fans, we need to see the big picture. We cannot let a childhood dream get in the way of recognizing the truth of a situation. Here is what I propose, place the scandal next to the records for those who you wish to see in the Hall of Fame. You want Sosa? You'll get the corked bat. You want Palmero? You get his "lying to a grand jury" tape played on repeat. You want Clemens? You get a picture of Brian McNamee. You want Bonds? You get a BALCO needle.
Here are the facts:
Barry Bonds is one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. He is the all-time home run champion with 762. He is a member of the 500/500 club. He is a 7x MVP. He is an 8x Gold-Glover. He is a 14x All-Star. Many of his records will never be touched.
He knowingly took steroids. He took steroids with the help of his childhood friend, Greg Anderson (who is in federal prison). He lied to the United States Government. He was indicted on 3 charges of perjury. He knows what really happened, but is not man enough to sit down and tell all.
We have to take the good with the bad. If we are going to let Barry Bonds, or any other Hall of Fame Candidate in, we must post the records with the cheating that went along with them. All of it must be on display. Would you still want Clemens, Bonds, and Palmero in the Hall of every piece of their scandals were printed next to their shining moments? I am not one to judge what you want.
You don't want to believe it's terrible, so you concoct a story that helps you sleep. Wake up, this is the worst it will ever be.
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