Culture Week - Part 5: Baseball and Steroids

At the end of 1997 baseball was in deep trouble. Fans were tired of millionaires battling billionaires for money and power. The interest was starting to wane on a lot of levels. I am sure many will cite figures to disprove this, but I am saying that as a fan and talking to folks a lot . . . baseball was in trouble.

Then came 1998. During the summer of 1998 Mark McQwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs staged a home run battle that brought fans back into the seats, and brought excitement back into the game. It was an epic battle that will be remembered as long as baseball is discussed. That single summer started baseball on an upward trend that it works from even today.

Much of that came into question in the last few months. Whenever the topic of baseball is mentioned today, it is usually connected with banned substances such as steroids. These are indeed sad days for baseball.

Now I am by no means a baseball purist. I think the Hall of Fame is basically a joke. I do not agree with writers having the only votes. I first felt that way when Tom Seaver was denied unanimous induction by one writer whose only rationale for not listing him on his ballot was “No one deserves to get in 100%.” Come on. Get a life. It is the baseball Hall of Fame, not heaven. I never liked Pete Rose, still am not a major fan of his, but I think he should be in the Hall. It is only a game! But then that is just me. Your opinion may differ; that is fine.

I now read where McQwire may not get in the Hall because of his statements, or lack of them, in front of the congressional hearing. I just shake my head and repeat what I wrote above.

It is strange to me that congress felt the need to get involved with baseball. Are there not other more pressing issues in the world than a game? I know. I know. There are the anti-trust issues that I do not even claim to understand. (I dropped a political science major in favor of speech and theater for a reason!) I also realize that baseball had the 331st highest spending of the top 3,000 Political Action Committees last year. But still.

I am not a fan of Barry Bonds. Did he use a banned substance? I do not know.

Should substances be banned that are potentially damaging to youngsters who copy these high paid athletes? Probably.

But here is a thought. In my mind, a player beefing up with artificial assistance is not too far removed from actors and actresses in Hollywood getting all sorts of potentially dangerous plastic surgery to enhance them physically so they have an advantage. Again, that is just me, and just as I am no lawyer, I am likewise no medical doctor.

So what is the point of this rambling blog about baseball, sports and society? The point is this. This latest sports scandal, in my opinion, just underscores the over importance we place on athletics in our culture. Remember, I am a hypocrite here, because I love sports myself.

The issue is not totally the over payment of sports heroes. The highest paid athlete makes but a pittance compared to the income a movie star or pop singer at the top of their drawing power.

However, here is my beef. Where are our priorities? I think they are pretty clear. When we pay entertainers millions to keep us distracted and entertained (notice again I said “we”) is it not borderline sinful to pay preschool teachers below the poverty level! Check the stats; you will see I am right here. We pay our entertainers thousands of times more than we pay those shaping the next generation at their most vulnerable age.

Here is a phrase that comes to mind, although when it was written it had absolutely nothing to do with this discussion. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”