ST. LOUIS - (KRT) - Once upon a time, it was easy to be a baseball fan. The game was pure, or so we thought. As kids we viewed the players as baseball gods. We wanted to be just like them.
In 1970, pitcher Jim Bouton began to strip away the facade and the fantasy by publishing "Ball Four," his diary of the 1969 season. Bouton took us on a guided tour of baseball's secret places. It was a shocking expose at the time. Players went onto hotel rooftops for peeping-tom escapades? They gobbled amphetamines to remedy hangovers? Say it isn't so.
More layers were pulled away by a younger, more aggressive generation of sportswriter-reporters. That was followed by more tattle-tale books, sports-talk radio and new media. Not only were the greenies out of the bottle, so were the genies.
Still, some secrets remained locked away. We got a glimpse in 1998, when Mark McGwire kept his bottle of androstenedione on his locker-room shelf. He had nothing to hide because andro was a legal supplement at the time, and Major League Baseball permitted its use. McGwire said he used andro to maximize his workouts; critics said andro's steroid-like properties enhanced McGwire's strength and provided a competitive advantage.
McGwire hit a record 70 homers in 1998. Once the lid was removed on Big Mac's andro bottle, it opened up a new area of scrutiny. Who was on the juice? And what supplements should be considered off limits? When Barry Bonds broke McGwire's home run record, was he real, or 'roided up?
Last year, MLB finally implemented a steroids-testing program. The crackdown on steroids is weak and flawed, but it's a start. And MLB finally has banned andro. That decision went into effect this season but was not immediately announced by the commissioner's office or the players' association. Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, disclosed the ban Friday during a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors.
This is awfully confusing. It probably will take a long time before baseball's steroids-testing system distinguishes the cheaters from the straight-edge players_if, indeed, that ever truly shakes out.
But what do we make of McGwire's record now? Is it tarnished because MLB has retroactively banned McGwire's supplement of choice? I'm sure some grandstanders in the press box will be calling for an asterisk to be attached to McGwire's 70 homers. He'll be an easy target for the self-righteous.
I've given this a lot of thought. In 1998, I defended McGwire on the grounds that what he did was acceptable within baseball rules; he used a supplement that was available at any health-nutrition store in the nation. But I also was glad McGwire quit taking andro before the 1999 season; his usage had prompted impressionable young athletes to run to the stores for andro.
Years have passed, and the excitement of covering the '98 home run chase has faded, and I still feel the same way. I wish McGwire hadn't used andro. But he did not break any rules in 1998. So to condemn his 70 homers now is akin to demanding that baseball's record book be altered to reflect changes in the rules, such as the lowering of the pitcher's mound following the 1968 season. McGwire's accomplishment was attained within the 1998 guidelines.
Does this mean that I believe McGwire was pure before, during and after '98? In McGwire's case, the man nearly hit 50 homers as a thinner rookie, so the power was always there. But how does anyone know if McGwire used or needed anything stronger than andro for that extra boost?
Sadly, we cannot know with 100 percent certainty if any athlete is clean. Unless they're caught cheating, athletes should be given the benefit of the doubt. But that doesn't mean we should suspend skepticism. And that's would be unfair to the straight-edge players.
Once upon a time, it was easy to be a fan . . .
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In 1970, pitcher Jim Bouton began to strip away the facade and the fantasy by publishing "Ball Four," his diary of the 1969 season. Bouton took us on a guided tour of baseball's secret places. It was a shocking expose at the time. Players went onto hotel rooftops for peeping-tom escapades? They gobbled amphetamines to remedy hangovers? Say it isn't so.
More layers were pulled away by a younger, more aggressive generation of sportswriter-reporters. That was followed by more tattle-tale books, sports-talk radio and new media. Not only were the greenies out of the bottle, so were the genies.
Still, some secrets remained locked away. We got a glimpse in 1998, when Mark McGwire kept his bottle of androstenedione on his locker-room shelf. He had nothing to hide because andro was a legal supplement at the time, and Major League Baseball permitted its use. McGwire said he used andro to maximize his workouts; critics said andro's steroid-like properties enhanced McGwire's strength and provided a competitive advantage.
McGwire hit a record 70 homers in 1998. Once the lid was removed on Big Mac's andro bottle, it opened up a new area of scrutiny. Who was on the juice? And what supplements should be considered off limits? When Barry Bonds broke McGwire's home run record, was he real, or 'roided up?
Last year, MLB finally implemented a steroids-testing program. The crackdown on steroids is weak and flawed, but it's a start. And MLB finally has banned andro. That decision went into effect this season but was not immediately announced by the commissioner's office or the players' association. Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, disclosed the ban Friday during a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors.
This is awfully confusing. It probably will take a long time before baseball's steroids-testing system distinguishes the cheaters from the straight-edge players_if, indeed, that ever truly shakes out.
But what do we make of McGwire's record now? Is it tarnished because MLB has retroactively banned McGwire's supplement of choice? I'm sure some grandstanders in the press box will be calling for an asterisk to be attached to McGwire's 70 homers. He'll be an easy target for the self-righteous.
I've given this a lot of thought. In 1998, I defended McGwire on the grounds that what he did was acceptable within baseball rules; he used a supplement that was available at any health-nutrition store in the nation. But I also was glad McGwire quit taking andro before the 1999 season; his usage had prompted impressionable young athletes to run to the stores for andro.
Years have passed, and the excitement of covering the '98 home run chase has faded, and I still feel the same way. I wish McGwire hadn't used andro. But he did not break any rules in 1998. So to condemn his 70 homers now is akin to demanding that baseball's record book be altered to reflect changes in the rules, such as the lowering of the pitcher's mound following the 1968 season. McGwire's accomplishment was attained within the 1998 guidelines.
Does this mean that I believe McGwire was pure before, during and after '98? In McGwire's case, the man nearly hit 50 homers as a thinner rookie, so the power was always there. But how does anyone know if McGwire used or needed anything stronger than andro for that extra boost?
Sadly, we cannot know with 100 percent certainty if any athlete is clean. Unless they're caught cheating, athletes should be given the benefit of the doubt. But that doesn't mean we should suspend skepticism. And that's would be unfair to the straight-edge players.
Once upon a time, it was easy to be a fan . . .
web page
