Major League Baseball: Stopping Steroids and Barry Bonds Because it Has to
After a recent investigation of his home that proved he had access to steroids, Grimsley asked the Diamondbacks to release him. This comes during the investigation Major League Baseball has begun to conduct as its attempt to prove that it is actually doing something to prevent steroid use in the game. The truth of the matter is, quite frankly, Major League Baseball could not care less about steroid use (or any performance-enhancing drug) in the game. The only reason that Commissioner Bud Selig called for such an investigation was from media pressure and the possibility of the game’s image being tainted. This is of course why this recent story of Jason Grimsley’s steroid use will fade into the woodwork with no apparent repercussions.
One person that will never be able to shake the steroid accusations is, obviously, Barry Bonds. Here’s a thought: because there is proof he did it! Countless books are being produced on the subject, not to mention that former teammates have provided accounts of Bonds’ steroid use. Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated often voices his opinion on this topic. He is absolutely baffled at the fact that this country would cheer for the man, currently number two on the all-time home run list, when most of his numbers are skewed by the use of steroids. I suppose the pursuit of another home run record outweighs the fact that a man cheated to achieve a goal (true capitalism at its best).
Bonds will have to endure the criticism the rest of his life for a few reasons. One is because he is an arrogant, unlikable, selfish player and there are not many people outside of San Fransisco that do not want to see him fail miserably. The other reason is because Major League Baseball has apparently appointed Barry Bonds as the one person meant to be the scapegoat for all of the game’s “drug problems.” By constantly berating Bonds and giving him a tsk-tsk there and a finger-wag there, Major League Baseball comes off as being very adamant about stamping out steroid use, not to mention Bonds faces a perjury charge (but if anyone were to believe he would be convicted of such a charge surely must be on some sort of hallucinogen). All the while, Bud Selig is most assuredly laughing manically to himself in his office as baseball receives all this free publicity. Remember when a certain Mark McGwire, on andro at the time, saved the game from its second strike in a decade?
Major League Baseball appears to be heading in the right direction in the fight against steroids. It would appear that way, at least. It is more likely that more high-fives take place in the meeting rooms of MLB than when a player hits a home run to win a game. As the old saying goes, “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” and Bonds provides plenty of it. Baseball doesn’t need another example; Grimsley will therefore get to ride off into the sunset and live a decent life. But just as some fans only attend (or get excited for) Opening Day and still call themselves fans, Major League Baseball will continue a fruitless investigation on purpose and call it the end of steroids.
