I remember it like it was yesterday. And while aging does play against my mind in this case it actually was. A subject that seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue, that just never dies, was once again brought to my attention. It was of course, Barry Bonds. And while everyone was shooting off their hot opinions on the matter my mind took me back to a day when everything seemed so much simpler, my freshman year of high school.
I was a boy learning to play a man's game: football. And with the season coming to an end I felt my stock had risen enormously and I was ready to break out into something great. And I knew the way I was going to get there: The Off-Season.
I remember walking around the weight room at school trying to figure out the best way to bulk up and increase my potential when a certain senior decided to take me under his wing. He offered (for a moderate fee, enter dad's wallet) to be my personal trainer and handle all my workouts, diets, and supplements. He would write my weight routines, teach me conditioning exercises and even sit me down with books and tell me what pills I needed to order and why. Then I would give him a check and a few weeks later my ship would arrive. At the time it sounded like a great idea. I mean, after all I was going to be built up into stardom. The "buck-twenty" boy soaking wet would be gone and in his place would be, well, me. But a bigger, stronger, faster me. One that would command the respect of everyone around him. At least that is what I thought.
Rumor around the school was that this individual had been injured during football and was getting a little "extra help" getting back on his feet. He had apparently almost doubled in muscle and wasn't recognizable anymore. Was this true? I don't know and I really don't want to. But he was given the name "Steroid Darroid" and myself, well, nobody called me anything to my face but I do remember people cracking jokes about the supplements they saw "Darroid" giving me and commenting on how I too must be involved. For the record, I wasn't taking steroids (or at least that is what I have told the BALCO Grand Jury investigators) but if I was let's just say those who were making the jokes would have been "convinced" to find something else to joke about.
I ended up transferring schools and never got to finish my program with "Darroid" but I often wonder if he had been on "the juice" and offered me any, what I would have said. It's easy to say I would have rejected them but I had the dream of being the next "Rudy" and stepping on the football field one day for the IRISH. And I wonder if by taking those pills I would have been guaranteed a scholarship what road I would have taken. And the honest answer is, I don't know.
Enter Barry Bonds or "Steroid Barr-oid" if you will.
The question brought up was "Who is Barry Bonds?". Is he the quiet, honest, hard-working individual who keeps to himself and proudly displays his cross or is he the raging, hateful man that wants nothing to do with anyone. And honestly, either way, why do we really care so much?
After hearing last night there is now an investigation on whether he lied to the grand jury I realized that this subject may never die. At the same time you have baseball investigating him as well as others who may have previously taken steroids. Seriously? I mean wouldn't it be easier for them to investigate the players in the recent era who have never taken steroids than the ones who have? I think that would be easier to obtain and a much, much shorter list. After they finish that impossible task maybe they should try to do an investigation into all the NBA players who have committed adultery in the past. Better yet, take those two lists to Vegas and sell it to the odds-makers so they can do an "over-under". Some serious money could be made!
So baseball, I have a solution for you. Move On! "Let Barry be Barry" and let Pete Rose back in the hall and the game. The past is the past and you played your part in the lack of control over it. Just like a parent who doesn't discipline their kids and allows them to run wild and then wonders why they are so badly behaved is baseball officials with their recent past. And you want to reach over and slap both of them when they come to you saying they don't understand how things are going so badly.
The game became the "steroid era" and most players felt they had to do it or they would be forced out of their careers by the ones who were starting to use. Most of these guys had families to support and made a sacrifice to take steroids because if they didn't some 22 year old fresh from the minors with a hot bat and an even sharper needle would put them out on the street. So they did what they felt they had to do to be successful and support their families. Do I condone it? No! But I want to be realistic about it. The sad and yet scary thing is that the Rangers also were part of that era yet still were terrible (although there were those 3 years in the late 90's that the Rangers did win their division but according to Palmeiro that is because Miguel Tejada was supplying the team with free Vitamin B shots). I applaud Mike Schmidt's honesty (one of the greatest players of the 70's and 80's) when he said "let me go out on a limb and say that if I had played during that era I would have taken steroids." And I believe most players either openly or in secret believe the same thing.
Baseball's future is bright as long as they go towards that light and don't wander off into the darkness. And things are back to the way they should be, back to normal. The Red Sox are winning again, the Rangers are losing again, and the Yankees are still spending millions of dollars for mediocrity. Life is good. And for the record, I haven't seen "Darr-oid" since high school but I heard not to long ago he was the personal trainer for some guys I have never heard of named Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Always juicy but still not "juiced,"
"The Bear"
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