By Pat Hibbs
Guest Columnist
Let’s talk about baseball and steroids. Alex Rodriguez took "a substance" six years ago and now Miguel Tejada is accused of lying to Congress. My question: "Who cares?"
Why should Sosa and McGuire not be in the Hall of Fame? They revived the game after the ’96 strike, and their rivalry was glorious. Bonds, though not a sympathetic character, was and is a great athlete. Baseball has been through many "eras." This one has included performance-enhancing drugs.
The players who used them have perhaps reaped their benefits in the short term, but may suffer in the longer term.
Would there have been a scandal about the booze and broads that Babe Ruth favored?
What about the Negro League players who couldn’t break into the big time until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier? Look today at the diversity in baseball.
Let’s be grateful for Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr. for true role models. But let’s not sluff off the truly great players who have contributed so much to the game.
After all, the game has changed. I grew up in a golden era (as far as I was concerned) after my father came home from the war (WWII). I started following the Phillies when I was five and could do a box score at six. In 1950, the Phillies won the National League pennant (let’s not talk about the series, an 0-4 loss to the dominant Yankees.) I remember listening to Dick Sisler’s home run to win the pennant – on the radio!
Does anyone care that I can still name the starting 1950 Phillies’ lineup? Probably not, but I can! Think of the wasted brain cells – and the precious memories.
In those days, there were no middle relievers or closers, no pitch counts, no "perfect" games with three pitchers. We had Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, who regularly pitched nine innings – and won. We had Jim "the fireman" Konstanty, who "saved" games that had begun to slip away. He could come into the game in the sixth inning or the ninth and do the job. Where is that player now?
I got to watch Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 series – at school. That was the kind of excitement generated by baseball.
Let’s admit that the game has changed. Equipment has changed, as has training (do you think Babe Ruth ever entered a weight room?). Most of this is to the good – that of the athlete and the fan.
So let’s just back off on steroids. They were a fad. They’re illegal now, and the game is probably better for it.
But the purist talking heads (think Lupica) – who are mostly younger than I – are acting as if the Hall of Fame should be denied to the players who would have made it easily – probably on the first ballot – steroids or HGH or not. Get off it.
The Hall reflects the game – and everything has changed. I can’t go back to my beloved 1950 Phillies – nor do I want to. They’re a wonderful memory, but that’s all. The game is vastly different, and that’s OK.
Meanwhile, let’s enjoy it as it is. Those four magic words – "pitchers and catchers report"- can’t come soon enough for me.
