Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

It has just surfaced today (thank you Selena Roberts) that Alex Rodriguez may have been on the "juice" starting in high school AND while being a member of the New York Yankees. Is it not enough that you were handed a god-given ability to rake a baseball, but you had to be the best player on the planet via a syringe? C'Mon!

Two nameless players in the Yankee clubhouse have went on record saying "they believed A-Rod was using based on side effects they saw - and a clubhouse staffer said management wondered if he was using banned substances." He also earned the name *pardon me ladies* "Bitch Tits." If the rumors are true this could be a side effect of anabolic steroids called gynecomastia.

The Mitchell Report has not named all of the players that were on the list, and few players have come forward stating their involvement with PED's. But I'll say this. I don't want to know. Baseball is sacred. There are things in the game that should and will never be touched. It's integrity is one of them. If those players are named it taints the game even more than the hubbub surrounding Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa etc.

Growing up watching baseball they were all like superheroes to me. Completely oblivious and naïve to any Big League Ballplayer using drugs I thought that the Home Run Race between Big Mac and Slammin Sammy was the most exciting thing and reminiscent of 1961 or *61 if you will between The Mick and The Hick (Roger Maris). Baseball players nowadays do some amazing things. But, how much of that is indicative to the drugs that they have taken?

You want to hear amazing? How about a 56 game hitting streak? Don't see that one being broken anytime soon. How about hitting 61 Home Runs in a City that breathes for the person that holds the record and the person you're competing with to break it. How about playing in 2632 consecutive games? No one will break that record while I'm alive. How about playing through multiple leg injuries and a stomach virus to hit a Walk-Off Homerun off of a future hall of famer?

You want to hear amazing? Try throwing 7 no hitters in a career. Want more? Try breaking the color barrier! Try hitting 756 career Home Runs (No I'm not talking about you Barry Lamar Bonds). These are the heroes in my book. That is god-given ability at its finest. They didn't have PED's or HGH then and look what they did. Is there anyone left that signifies what baseball is about? Is there anyone that is going to take this country on their back and show them how to Hit, Field, and be a role model to young Americans?

I have read José Canseco's book Juiced and although he is a HORRIFIC writer I'm starting to think that this man is more of a soothsayer than we think. He told us that Rafael "I did NOT take steroids period" Palmiero took steroids. He gets caught 3 months later. Ivan Rodriguez goes from looking like Schwarzenegger to Pedroia in a matter of months. I don't need to remind you that "I'm not here to talk about the past." (ugh Mark McGwire)

I understand why you took them. They work, plain and simple. If they didn't work people wouldn't take them. Baseball players have to use their bodies for every facet of their job. They know damn-well what they are putting into their bodies.

I can think of a handful of players off the top of my head that I believe that are clean…(aside from the obvious)

-Ken Griffey Jr. (One of the sweetest things in baseball history)

-Jim Thome (Not sure if its because he could be Roger Maris, but he's clean)

-Albert Pujols (He has had the fear of God put into him… literally)

Players that unfortunately don't make my clean list

-Nomar Garciaparra (Sorry Sox fans you saw the cover of SI)

-Miguel Tejada (Funny how he can't speak English when he's accused of taking steroids)

-Shea Hillenbrand (he hit 30 bombs one year and did he hit 30 total in his next 6 yrs in the bigs?)

So this is my response to you Alex Roidriguez. You should be ashamed. You had/have the talent. What's wrong with only hitting 400 HR's in the Major Leagues? Is that so bad? You needed to hit 800? You have publicly lied (or deliberately evaded the truth). You were only sorry that you got caught. Not that you took them. EVERY accomplishment you get from here on out deserves and asterisk*. This goes not only for you but for all other users. No one player is "bigger" than the game and although you're trying you will reap what you sew.

Stay Tuned

Ryan