So much for writing about Joe Torre's book…
All of a sudden Alex Rodriguez has a lot more to worry about than being compared to the movie "Single White Female" (1992). Over the weekend Sports Illustrated reported that A-Rod failed a steroid test in 2003 when the league conducted a survey to see if regular steroid testing was necessary. Since then, A-Rod has admitted to using steroids between 2001 and 2003 with the Texas Rangers, citing the pressure of being the highest-paid player in baseball as his reason for juicing.
And honestly, it's hard not to feel a little bit bad for the guy. Watching him in New York for years, it's easy to see how much pressure he puts on himself, not to mention how much the fans do. And of the 104 players that failed tests in 2003, of course only A-Rod's rights were violated, with his name being leaked despite the fact that the tests were supposed to be anonymous and the samples were supposed to be destroyed immediately after the fact.
And while I'm glad he came out and admitted what he did — forgoing the Roger Clemens route of insincere and potentially criminal denials — I'm not naïve enough to believe everything he said.
He claimed that he didn't know he failed the test until SI reported it, even though every player that failed was supposed to be notified. And when asked what he put into his body, A-Rod again replied that he didn't know. Really? You never saw the bottle of pills? You never felt the pinch in your ass? You just put something into your body that for all you know might've been sugar pills? Or Vitamin C? Or cyanide? Really?
But even though the entire truth might be clouded, one thing remains undeniably clear; A-Rod cheated. But does that make him a bad person? Does that mean that his Hall of Fame chances should be flushed down the drain?
No. It doesn't.
Baseball is a game with a long history of cheating and less-than-admirable personalities. Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford made doctoring baseballs a craft. Ty Cobb was a notorious bigot. John McGraw tripped opponents and hid balls in the outfield. Babe Ruth was a glutton with a taste for booze and women. Not only that, but 53 of his bats were discovered last year — all corked.
And yet, for all their flaws, do you know what all of the above players have in common? They're all in the Hall of Fame.
Was what A-Rod did wrong? Yes. But should we crucify him because cheating has become more scientific?
It might sound cynical, but cheating is just part of baseball. Players have been using amphetamines since the ‘40s, and in a USA Today poll just a few years ago, 35 percent of players reported that they thought at least half of players still used (there has been testing since 2006, but an oddly high percentage of players seem to have developed ADHD since then).
If I had a Hall of Fame vote, I would vote for A-Rod. I'd also vote for Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa -- there's no proof that ‘roids help you hit a curveball. Hell, I'd even go for Pete Rose and Joe Jackson. After all, what is the Hall of Fame supposed to be, anyway? The Hall of Good Guys that Played Baseball? It's not, and we shouldn't idolize these guys just because they played a children's game well.
Why can't we just take the good with the bad? Couldn't Barry Bonds' plaque read, "He was suspected of steroid use, but even if you take away 262 dingers, he'd still be the only player with 500 homers and steals"? Or Pete Rose's, "The man bet on baseball, but that didn't help him become the game's all-time hit king"?
Who are we trying to protect? The Hall of Fame's motto is "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations." These guys are a big part of the game's history; they should be a part of Cooperstown as well.
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David Heck is a junior majoring in philosophy. He can be reached at David.Heck@tufts.edu.
