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Heck, Manny Ramirez was suspended, remained a fan favorite and was acquired by the White Sox for a playoff push.Ī general observation: National pundits seem to think that this whole steroids thing will blow over in a few years and players will make the Hall of Fame based on numbers, despite PED allegations or truths. Brian Roberts remains a fan (and owner’s) favorite in Baltimore. These players for the most part – other than retired players such as Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro – seem to have been given a free pass.Īndy Pettitte is still on the Yankees and expected to be a part of their postseason rotation while his teammate Alex Rodriguez continues to add to his impressive career totals. Forget the numbers would Bonds really have played as long as he did without whatever batch of chemicals he allegedly took? Heck, my kids don’t even really know who McGwire is.Īnd these PEDs didn’t curtail anyone’s career – they have extended them.

Let’s not include Mark McGwire here as any pre-teen wasn’t even born when a juiced-up McGwire hit 70 home runs. On the flip side, there are the performance-enhancers, which thanks to Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, ESPN and MLB Network, among other things, my sons – and a score of other kids – are all too aware about.  Sure, some rebounded (Dave Parker) or even made the Hall of Fame (Paul Molitor), but how many players just fell off the table due to too much partying? Likely too many to count. Here’s the thing, though – those above-mentioned things hurt, curtailed or just downright ended players’ careers. You found out that players caroused, womanized, drank and/or did drugs (in fact, I can remember the disappointment I felt when I found out Scott McGregor had used drugs).

It used to be that your heroes weren’t torn down until you were older. But his question caused a flood of them, which I was able to dissect later.įirst, should an 8-year-old really have to be concerned with steroids (what seems to be the catch-all word to use when talking about any performance-enhancing substance)?Īt 8, shouldn’t it all be about following your favorite team(s) and player(s), soaking up the game and learning the subtleties, playing Little League and emulating what you’ve seen and controlling the game by playing dice games like APBA or Strat-O-Matic (OK, these days more like playing video games like MLB2K10)? It is amazing how many thoughts can cross your mind in a second. €œDad,” he asked, “did Albert Pujols take steroids?”

At that point, my younger son leaned over to me. Up to the plate stepped perhaps the best hitter in the game today. I was at Miller Park, attending a Brewers-Cardinals game with my wife and two sons. It started with an innocent question, as are all questions which come out of the mouth of an 8-year-old.Įxcept this question cut at the heart of Major League Baseball – past, present and future.