Alex Rodriguez will hit his 600th home run, and no one will care.
About 15 years ago, he would’ve been making headlines every time he homered. There might’ve even been an A-Rod tracker. But in 2010, home run records don’t mean anything.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa made America fall in love with home runs and the thrill of breaking a record, then the steroid and substance-abuse broke America’s heart.
So maybe if Rodriguez had never been caught, he might be portrayed as a venerated savior to the game. But everyone knows he was caught, so instead he is Barry Bonds, just a bit more quiet.
It’s sad that baseball records like this are not anything a fan can get excited over anymore. To think Rodriguez will be just the seventh player in Major League history to reach 600 home runs or more.
And he’s a shortstop!
Steroids Finally Hurt the Game
Life is full of ironies.
And Major League Baseball has been caught in one the last 25 years or so. Steroid use was reviving the game of baseball by helping players post gaudy power numbers.
Offense is what gets fans to become excited about baseball. The McGwire-Sosa race towards Roger Maris' former single season home run record is proof of that.
Now though, the very substances that gained so much fan base, is making fans not lose interest in the sport, but lose interest in the records.
Suddenly, there is nothing respectful or mystical about the baseball home run records. They are no longer pure.
Oddly enough, which superstars are kept from the Hall of Fame will make more headlines than any record being broken.
New MLB Drug Testing is Great
The minor leagues will now be conducting drug tests to detect whether or not players are using Human-Growth Hormone.
This is one of the biggest moves in finally weeding out the steroid use in baseball.
See, this type of drug testing will not be allowed in the MLB because of the union’s collective bargaining agreement. But there is no such agreement in the minor leagues.
Minor league drug testing does two positive things for the game.
First, it ensures that players have made it from the minors to the majors without cheating.
Secondly, it makes the possibility of this type of drug testing making it to the major league level one day—maybe not next year, but possibly by 2012.
If that happens, then some of these records will become relevant again around halfway through this century.
Drug testing could be the second coming of Babe Ruth—baseball’s savior.
Sergio Bonilla - Sergio Bonilla is currently a Miami, FL resident. He recently graduated from Florida International University college, and he is a ...
