Is Baseball Ready to Say Goodbye to the Steroids Era?

Finish what you start even after you start it too late. Somebody should tell that to MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

After all the years of falling stages and pages behind the steroid policies of other professional sports, baseball finally fell face-first into the heat of scandal, and the major leagues attempted to step back into the light of their former glory by adopting a steroid policy. Baseball was, and still seemingly is, desperate to cover its tracks and focus on the present rather than the past. Friends of mine frequently refer to this back alley standstill as the "can of worms" that nobody wants to open. They're avid fishermen, but their point is more than valid. Presently, several years later, the sport has responded well to the apparent "end" of the steroid era. At the very least, there seems to finally be an idea of what it takes to celebrate a clean game, but the reality remains that the steroids era has not ended.

There is not a presently acceptable test in major league baseball for human growth hormone. This has become a situation without two sides. Baseball can only do the right thing. The sports world has to wonder if anyone can truly have a realistic idea of who is using performance-enhancing drugs? Clearly, the answer is no. The fact that players are still failing tests and getting caught means that players are still using performance-enhancing drugs. It sounds simple, but the fact rests that present legal hearings suggest the whole story has not been written yet. The scenario plays out like a true crime. One person says one thing, another says something different. One person comes out to reveal the truth, four more decide to not say anything. Fans of the game want to know who else knew about all this, and more importantly, who knew what? Team owners may have covered for players, more trainers may have helped supply illegal substances, executives might have been privy with special information, some players continue to keep their hands clean, knowing what they know.

Matters have crossed into the land of the law. Roger Clemens will soon go on trial for perjury and obstruction. The outcome of this case will no doubt be interesting to the history of the sport. If Olympic Medals, Heisman trophies and NFL Rookie of the Year awards can be taken back, is there valid reason to re-evaluate Roger Clemens' 4 Cy Young awards that he won during performance-enhanced seasons. These are awards, they're not statistics or records. Trophies can change, and the record books don't have to, not yet, at least. Depending on the outcome of the trial, it should be the one of the first things that Bud Selig can really consider. If times change, Randy Johnson would receive the 1997 AL Cy Young and the 2004 NL Cy Young. 3-Time winner Pedro Martinez would take home his 4^th from the 1998 season, and former Oakland lefty, Mark Mulder, would walk away with the AL Cy Young from 2001, when the A's won 102 games.

Baseball is no longer a purist's game. Fans that believed in the magic and summer glamor behind Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa going yard eventually saw the trick behind the curtain. Fans that relinquished their trust when the players went on strike in 1994 needed a long time to rekindle their connections, and all that baseball managed to do was to continue challenging trust in every way. Nothing was or still is sacred. Senator Mitchell's report confirmed what many people suspected, but also what many people seemed to ignore. Many of the league's best players, legends of the game, have become legendary breakers of the rules, record breakers of the most unpure nature. Now, one can imagine that anyone could theoretically have used performance-enhancing drugs. The crowd can say it one more time for the road, "nothing is sacred." No one is safe. Yet, fans can thank steroids for setting a new, higher standard for the baseball elite. We can thank steroids for making the clean players look even better. However, conversely, if we thank steroids for sparking the surge of popularity after the 1994 season, we can also blame them for only having a temporary impact on
popularity and a lasting impact on trust.

The game's popularity has declined and overall league attendance has gone down, but the game is still strong. Some teams continue to sell out every night, some teams have never seen it so bad. Steroids changed baseball. Changed sounds better than ruined. However, anything that changes can change again. Major league baseball has debated implementing a blood testing system for human growth hormone in the minor leagues. If that happens, well, fans can call it a test run. When HGH is put into check, the spirit of the game will take performance-enhancing drugs out of the players' culture. When all the hearings are wrapped up, and all the names and sources have established connections to reveal the truth, then Bud Selig can make up for the past fifteen years. The hearings will be painful, but the pain will purify the sport. Only then will the steroids era mark its end.