What the hell has baseball come to? The game was nearly ruined over the strike in 1994 and was brought back to life by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. We have found out the past couple of years that the memorable chase years ago was by two men juiced up on roids. The greatness of that year is now a fog of controversy and lies. The sport that has been built on history and purity is now tainted (for the moment being) because of selfishness, greed and deceit.

Yes, I understand records are made to be broken but by natural ability and not cheats. Record books serve a purpose of allowing generations to remember back to their youth and allowing fathers/mothers the ability to pass on those great accomplishments to their sons/daughters. I remember being fairly young and listening to my father quite often talk about baseball and the legends he grew up watching. He learned from his father the players that played before his time. When Im sitting down with my son in the future and my son hears the name Barry Bonds and notices he is the single season home run hitter, what am I suppose to say? The follow up question of Why does he have a star next to his name? will be hard to explain. Now I am forced to go into the darkest moment in baseball history since the 1919 Black Sox World Series scandal. I must explain that these guys cheated the great game of baseball. Not only did they cheat baseball but they cheated the fans that came to watch these so called greats. And for what, a $100,000 incentive clause in their contract? More magazine covers? More publicity and notoriety?

We lost interest in baseball once over money and greed and now we are letting it slip through our hands again. In actuality, its the same problem thats just been delayed, greed. The old saying, Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me has never been more true. Are we to believe that these players will now stop? The recent investigations will be enough to limit the problem but it will not stop it completely. Criminals/cheaters are always one step ahead of the people trying to catch them.

I may not have the baseball legends my father grew up watching and thats fine by me. We immortalized and emulated every move, batting stance and trademark of these players when were on the playground. We wore their jerseys and watched their every at bat. There is some good out of all this. Id rather know they were cheaters now while I still have an opportunity to enjoy the players that are playing steroid-free baseball. Its hard to imagine that some of the players who were getting all the cheers should have been the players that were getting all of the boos. Sad to think, the players that never got a chance to play in their spot were the real baseball players and treated the game with honesty.

Its hard to turn our backs on a player we grew up immortalizing but thats exactly what they did to us. Hopefully, come their time to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the BBWAA (writers who vote members in) will also turn their backs on them. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and Palmeiro may feel cheated by the result but that would only seem fitting for the situation.

Thank you and I encourage any feedback, positive and especially negative.