The Needle and the Blame Game: MLB's Steroid Scandal

I never pictured myself rooting for Jason Giambi.

Yet, there I sat a few months ago watching Sunday baseball on TBS; the Rockies at Citizen's Bank Park to face off against the Phils.

Ninth inning. Brad Lidge in to close the game. The Phils leading 4-3 with two outs; unfortunately Lidge had made some mistakes that cost him dearly. There's men in scoring position on second and third.

Giambi steps into the batters box for Colorado. It's odd to see him in the Rockies jersey; it's odd to see him at all since I haven't in quite some time. I wasn't even sure who picked him up after the Yankees let him go.

I could see it in his face. Anyone could recognize it: he wanted to nail that ball. He wanted to get at least the tying run in, if not the tying and go-ahead run as well.

I sensed this ambition grow as the Philly fans, as always, showed how classy they are by collectively shouting the chant: "YOU TOOK STEROIDS! YOU TOOK STEROIDS!"

I liked Giambi when he had the balls to come clean about his steroid use when no one else in the league would. Even more impressive was the fact that he was honest in that much-pubilcized press conference despite the threats from Steinbrenner Sr.

Not many players would go against The Boss, ever. Steinbrenner told him to keep his mouth shut and just not talk about it.

Giambi felt he owed an explanation, and he wanted to talk about what no one else was. Jose Conseco was the only one we had really heard from extensively, and everyone hates Jose Conseco.

He wanted to tell the world, particularly young athletes, what it was really like to use performance enhancers and how it ruined his body, gave him a tumor, and almost ruined his career. Potentially, it could have ended his life.

But I digress as always; back to the game I was watching. I like the Phillies, I think they're a great team even though it's unacceptable that they let the Yankees win the Series last year. However, as I was reminded of today, it is very difficult to root for a team when you have nothing but contempt for their fans. These are the same types of crowd members who brutally heckled Josh Hamilton during his first season back into the sport following his drug ban. It's the same drunk, stupid, fat and ignorant personality types that make going to games a headache.

You know who I'm talking about. The guys at the game that ruin the experience for everyone else.

"You took steroids"??? Really, Philly fans? F*** you guys. Yeah, I said it. You don't deserve Halliday or Hammels. Just F*** you all.

Believe me, Giambi is well aware he took steroids. And he didn't lie about it like, oh, EVERYONE ELSE IN THE LEAGUE DID.

He held a press conference and came clean in front of the entire world; I'd say that's a guy who got the shameful secret off his back. He knows he took them and probably regrets it every day. He surely doesn't need the reminder, you as*h**es.

After the tumor scare (luckily it was not malignant but it could have been), the surgery to remove it from his pituitary gland, and the recovery process...I don't think he'll ever forget.

So there I was, cheering for Giambi. Wanting to watch him knock one out and win the game very badly. Longing to shut those Phil fans up.

I'd want any crowd chanting something like that to permanently silenced. It's tasteless and very cruel; everyone has demons and skeletons in the closet. If you don't have serious ones yourself, you have a friend or a family member that does. There is little doubt about that. That's life and life's has its own terms.

So why crucify a player for a steroid mistake that happened years ago, especially when he was the one of two players (now three players with Andy Pettitte) to be honest with us and didn't act like we (the baseball fans) and the media were a bunch of idiots who'd buy any lame excuse (I'm looking at you, Clemens and Bonds).

This is a sport that has had its reputation tainted forever by the steroid and amphetamine problem that was so rampant. It has been talked about endlessly and yet everyone is missing the point.

I'm sick of Selig being blamed, as if he snuck into clubhouses and injected players with HGH himself. I'm also sick of the players being brutally attacked. Everyone insults these guys when maybe I'm the only one to recall that WE LIVE IN A DRUG CULTURE.
America: The land of hypocrisy and ignorance. We give billions a year to drug companies. We take antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, legal speed so we can focus, dangerous diet pills, pail killers and muscle relaxers, mood stabilizers, and even synthetic heroin (OxyContin).
The media and the viewing public tend to be the most critical at times when it's most convenient for us to forget where exactly we exist. Look at the world we've created.
We're obsessed with money and the latest products. We all take something, illegal or legal. We dehumanize each other on a regular basis, and then put this dehumanization into overdrive when it comes to our celebrities.
Take those ingredients I just listed; we have guys in pro ball that are trying to make as much as they can while their careers last, get the hot endoresements to bolster their income and visibility. These guys know they better get all the money they can, while they can. An injury could end everything for them at any moment they're on the diamond.

The sad truth is, no matter how big of a baseball fan you might be, you still will fall into the habit of forgetting that these guys are human beings. They aren't jersey numbers, batting averages and E.R.A. stats. They are not faceless, emotionless commodities even though they are treated as such.

Think about this: In all the media's steroid nonsense, did you ever hear anyone try to ask WHY? Did you hear one single person express any concern for the athletes ruining their bodies because of insecurity and immense pressure?

We sob and cry and change laws when a model dies because of anorexia. So why don't we view athletes as people as well? They face the pressures, and the dangers of all the chemical fixes that are/were so popular in the clubouses.

And yet we just make fun of the guy swho messed up and took steroids. The same viewing public that ignored baseball and handed the sport its lowest ratings and attendance numbers in history until the home run chase with McGwire and Bonds filled ballparks and got people watching again.

Do you see the pattern of hypocrisy here?

Yes, it's their fault. Yes, they made a huge mistake if they used steroids. Yes, they should own up to it even if it ruins their legacy or career records.

However, the players are caught in a culture that we (the fans and media) helped create. We are the ones who sold out ballparks to see home runs. It was us who tuned in and gave the MLB amazingly high ratings during the Bonds/McGwire/Sosa seasons.

There are certain industries and professions that come with their own chemical solutions and self-destructive habits. Models use anything and everything to kill their appetites. Truckers and air traffic controllers put speed on the map so they could stay awake and alert for extended periods of time. Housewives made Valium famous and were the drug's first major demographic of users. Cocaine is rampant in the stock and finance sector and has been since the 80's. Jockeys are bulimic in order to stay at a certain weight and ride. Anyone in the bar industry knows that it's easier and well-accepted to drink heavily just like the people you're waiting on.

It's a matter of staying ahead of the curve. If you want to excel professionally and happen to be in a tough industry, you will do whatever it takes. And that "At Any Cost" mentality is what drives some of the most influential and powerful people in the world.

Baseball players did what they did for the same reasons every one else abuses a chemical: insecurity, fear, pride, lack of pride, and pressure.

So all I'm saying is: why do we demonize them? It's wrong, yes, but at some point this culture lost all sense of empathy. It's SAD that players resort to steroids and uppers. It's SAD that any of us resort to drugs to be better, smarter, happier and skinnier.

But that's just the way it is. It's the world we've created.

Welcome to America. Where's the nearest pharmacy?