Times change.

People change.

Cultures change.

Now, the sports landscape is dominated by players who have unimaginable combinations of pure athleticism and technical skill. LeBron James and Calvin Johnson are just a few that transcend the marriage of natural gifts and learned ability. In baseball, there are a few players who show this gift. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are certainly headed there. Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Cabrera ring a bell. With these amazing talents come diverse and intriguing personalities, that if allowed to flourish, would be wildly entertaining to behold.

Yet these players are confined by baseball’s archaic rubric. “Play the game the right way”, as the grizzled vets are apt to say. I’m all for committing to the team dynamic, especially since there’s so many pieces involved in a baseball game…but why can’t these players show some pizazz while they do it? Why can’t there be some flashes of personality? Why is that so hard for baseball to handle? A player can crush a beautiful, majestic home run…but if he looks at it, he can prepare to be drilled on his next at bat. Case in point, take Tuesday’s game between the Nationals and Braves. Harper hits a DEEP home run (that ball would’ve been out of any park, including Yellowstone) and what does he get for his trouble? Drilled in the thigh the next at bat. Then the Braves had the audacity to tweet smack (“Clown move bro.”) which launched a tweet battle between both teams’ PR departments. Perfect juxtaposition of old school vs. new school. Horrible old school that someone resorted to drilling him, hilarious new school that a tweet war started over it.

Clown move bro

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 7, 2013

Highly Paid People Get To Do This.

Baseball is fighting a losing battle against being relevant. With every vet that stifles the outburst of individuality that fresh new talent brings to baseball, the further baseball falls behind giants like football and basketball. If baseball doesn’t correct this soon (and by soon I mean, in this generation of players), there won’t be a baseball to worry about.  It’s OK to believe in the powers of team unity and having respect for the game…but it’s also OK to have a face of the game (baseball sorely needs one) and players that have fun antics that make you want to watch them. Baseball needs the team dynamic, but it needs a little Tony Plush (a.k.a. Nyjer Morgan) too.

I just wonder if the old school of baseball will ever let that happen.

Tell Chris what you think: Tweet to @Swagger_Jackson

What? The Houston Astros?

This is the part where you as the reader goes, “He’s kidding right?”

Nope. I kid you not. Here’s why.

Let’s start by looking at the division leader, the Oakland A’s. The A’s are more set than any other team in the AL West and seem headed towards a playoff spot, which is exactly why they should’ve made a move for another bat to help their lineup. Out of all the teams that would make the playoffs if they started today (Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Indians, A’s), the A’s have the lowest runs scored of any of them. In the postseason, you can’t win every game 3-2. The A’s didn’t make a move for a bat or a pitcher. Standing pat while the Red Sox and Tigers get stronger is not the way to make it to the World Series.

The Texas Rangers whiffed badly at the trade deadline too.  For a team sorely in need of offense and possibly on their way to losing Nelson Cruz to the Biogenesisnado, the Rangers could’ve used an infusion of hitting.  The only problem was the teams with the bats (a perfect segue into the next team I’m going to rant about, the Seattle Mariners) never seemed willing to move them.  So the Rangers offense will continue to sputter all the way to finishing 6-8 games behind the A’s.

Now, let’s get to the Mariners…

I need a moment before I go HAM…

Channeling my best Herm Edwards…

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, hello?!? Hello?!? You play to win the game.

 

The Mariners had the most vital asset that nearly every team was looking for, power hitting. Between Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales, and Michael Morse, you could’ve easily got back some decent prospects and shed expiring contracts. Instead, Jackie Z decided to ask for a king’s ransom for all three guys, which sealed the fate of being unable to move any of them. He does realize he’s the GM of a team seven games under .500, right? I don’t think he does. Plus, there’s no guarantee any of the three resign with Seattle. If that happens and they all leave in the offseason, I’m locking up the FireJackieZ.com domain.

The only team I’m willing to cut a little bit of slack to is the Angels. It’s hard to move pieces when they’re all paid the GDP of a small country. The one issue I do have a gripe about is the Angels insistent clamoring about pitching, just to end up pulling the trigger on a pitcher that averages over 5 walks per 9 innings (Cory Rasmus), and trading a positional player for another positional player. But why should I expect common sense from Jerry Dipoto?  He’s part of the MLB Legion of Doom (Dipoto, Jerry Meals, and Angel Hernandez).

Nonsensical Trades?  UGGGHHHHH WHAT A RUSH!!

Which brings us to my winners, the Astros. We know they suck. They know they suck. At least they’re trying to fix it though. There’s no point in keeping pieces that aren’t going to be part of your final core when you start trying to contend, so they sold high on Bud Norris and Jose Veras, getting decent prospects for them. To me, when compared to the rest of the division, they win.

You can win in two ways, by either taking a step forward, or by how the Astros won, everyone else taking a step back.

Tell Chris what you think: Tweet to @Swagger_Jackson

Which is why I’m now looking for a new favorite baseball team.

As a Brewers fan, I had the last vestige of thinking, “Yeah, the team is terrible. At least we have Ryan Braun though!” So imagine my feeling when Braun just accepted the 65 game suspension without fighting against it, which means he in some form complicit for his role in performance enhancing drugs. That was the last straw. I’m done. They teased me for a special moment in 2011 with Braun winning MVP (now tainted) and Nijer Morgan doing Tony Plushamentals all over the NLDS.  That seems like a lifetime ago.

So now I’m back where I was at the tender age of 6, when I had just learned what professional baseball was and had picked my first favorite team, the Brewers. I’m searching for a new team. Yes, there’s plenty of favorite players that I have, but finding a team is much more involved. You have to be OK with the team’s roster, management, and ownership, the ballpark can’t be a dump, and the team’s fans can’t be embarassing (see Cubs, Chicago…I still can’t forget the Bartman incident).

Can a franchise be defined by one play?

Once you get past all of that, it’s just a matter of finding the right fit for you. The problem is, I just don’t have a clue.

Any suggestions anyone.

Tell Chris what you think: Tweet to @Swagger_Jackson

The NL flat out lost.

Let’s start with the selection for the teams.  The fans got the AL picks almost perfectly right.  The NL…not so much.  Am I the only person on planet Earth that thinks David Wright is overrated?  (EDITORS NOTE: No.)  Just because the game is in New York doesn’t mean he deserves to start over Pedro Alvarez.

This could be about Wright too.

Also, I love Bryce Harper, and he is the future of baseball, but I’m taking Andrew McCutchen before Harper.  Now, nearly every guy plays, but your starters get two at bats versus one…and it’s against top notch pitching.  Then to top it all off, the fans have a chance to get Yasiel Puig into the game, a guy who could legitimately help the NL, and instead the fans take Freddie Freeman.  I like Freeman, but I need game-changers in a single-game winner-take-all situation, not above-average players. Then once Freeman gets hurt, they insert Brian McCann in his place! Really?!? They managed to drop the Puig ball twice.  Remember, that game was for home field advantage in the World Series. Now the Cardinals, Pirates, and other NL contenders are at a disadvantage. (ED: But at least Jonathan Papelbon is happy.)

The selections for the Home Run Derby weren’t any better.  David Wright plays in a league with plenty of bonafied mashers, and he still managed to pick a sub-standard team.  Robinson Cano was smart; he picked physically imposing hitter with a penchant for crushing baseballs. Everyone knows the batting practice exploits of Chris Davis, Prince Fielder, and Yoenis Cespedes.  What was Wrights response? Pedro Alvarez (great choice), Bryce Harper (good choice), and…Michael Cuddyer?  Really? You have a ton of guys to choose from, heck, you could even take someone who isn’t an All-Star (see Cespedes), and you pick Michael Cuddyer?  Somewhere, Giancarlo Stanton has to be fuming. If I was selecting a team, I’m making Stanton my first pick in a heartbeat. Of course, the AL wins. It was like playing 4 vs. 2, as Cuddyer and Wright had no business being there.

Then to culminate the festivities, the NL gets shutout, managing only 3 hits the entire night. Simply put, the NL got beatdown. The AL had the better lineup and pitching and it showed. NL hitters looked clueless all night and the NL pitchers were constantly in tough situations with pitch counts. The AL managed to squeak out a few runs and against the potent AL pitching staff, the NL couldn’t mount any sort of defense.

Hopefully, next years’ festivities in Minnesota are a little less one sided.

Is Yasiel Puig an All-Star?

The arguments from both sides of the isle are valid. Those that argue against him being an All-Star claim that he hasn’t been in the majors long enough, that he plays on a .500 team, that he’s only getting consideration because he’s in a big market. Those that argue for him being included in the Midsummer Classic say that he’s a breath of fresh air in a game that is getting stale, that his numbers are incredible for the time he has been in the majors.

Actually, both sides are right.

Puig has been in the majors for all of 34 games. The baseball guy in me screams, “Callups in August get about that same amount of time! What makes him so special?”

The fan in me screams, “Do you see what he does on a nightly basis? He scored from second on a groundout to first!”

Yes, the Dodgers are only a .500 team, entering play on Thursday at 45-45…but that record puts them only 1.5 games out of first place, trailing Arizona in what has to be one of baseball’s worst divisions. Before Puig arrived, the Dodgers were 23-32. That means with him, they’re 22-13. Yes, the Dodgers have the luxury of being in a big market and having the means to toss money at anything and everything, including a big PR push for Puig. Has he not earned it though? His 2.7 WAR is better than the best WAR player on 9 teams. His numbers are incredible for the short time he’s been in the majors, and the stats show that it can be sustained to a high level. He has all the tools.

WAR

What is it good for?

Most importantly, he makes people pay attention.

Isn’t that what you want your All-Stars to do the most?  You want players who make the casual fan go, “I have to watch this guy.” He does something impressive at least once every few days. Yes, he rubs fellow players the wrong ways at times, with glaring at the opposing player when he makes outs and playing the game with a swagger that borders on arrogance. Yet I remember another athlete that played the game the same way, with that same feel of “I dare you to beat me.”

Michael Jordan.

Yes, it is far too early to say that he’ll have the impact in baseball that Jordan did in basketball, but he evokes the same feelings of watching something so great you have to question if it’s real. Puig is exactly the type of player MLB needs to help close the gap between them and the two most popular sports in America, football and basketball. Baseball is prominently in the headlines for steroids currently and this gives baseball a chance to be in the news for something else that isn’t negative.

Baseball may not want Puig, but it needs Puig.

C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 146 games, .315 AVG, 13 HR, 71 RBI

Joe Mauer has dealt with injury issues, but he’s stayed decently healthy since the last All-Star break. It’s not his fault that he rarely gets good pitches to hit in the middle of that miserable Minnesota lineup, but he still manages to post a .300+ AVG while catching. Beats any other catcher available.

1B – Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 150 games, .301 AVG, 50 HR, 125 RBI

I first thought, “Chris Davis is just riding the wave of this season into an All-Star spot.” until I looked at his numbers from the second half of 2012…he led all 1B in HR and RBI for the second half of 2012. His strikeout numbers leave something to be desired, but imagine this: the closest player to him in HR during this stretch is Detroit’s Prince Fielder with 29.

2B – Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 159 games, .303 AVG, 33 HR, 97 RBI

Cano seems to be the only serious 2B who wasn’t plagued by a miserable half at some point. Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler had bad second halves of 2012. Plus, Cano has literally no protection in the New York AAA Yankees lineup that is currently seeing playing time in the Bronx and he’s still producing.

SS – J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 159 games, .258 AVG, 25 HR, 81 RBI

Hardy has been surprisingly effective hitting in the front of a potent Baltimore lineup. He’s taken advantage of the open hole made by Derek Jeter’s absence.

 (EDITORS NOTE:  Remember hat year when Jeter wasn’t voted in and was in that “choose the last guy vote” thing.  And he lost.  To Scott Podsesnik.  Pure balls.)

3B – Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 157 games, .354 AVG, 52 HR, 153 RBI

 At this point there’s nothing else that can be said about Cabrera that hasn’t already been said. He hits for average, he hits for power, he drives in runs, he scores runs. These are his metrics for the same time span: .434 OBP, .673 SLG, 1.107 OPS. He’s a machine. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t go home after games…Jim Leyland just plugs him into the wall and feeds him a bottle of motor oil.

OF – Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 148 games, .314 AVG, 31 HR, 95 RBI

OF – Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 161 games, .288 AVG, 27 HR, 96 RBI

Trout and Jones currently hold the top 2 spots in the outfield for the All-Star game. They are most deserved, especially in Trout’s case. In addition to his gaudy stats, he also has 43 SB during that time span while only being caught five times. The third spot would’ve been in the hands of several players if it weren’t for mishaps. Curtis Granderson has missed the first half of this season with injury. Jose Bautista missed the second half of last year with injury. Josh Hamilton apparently forgot how to play baseball in the first half of this season. My pick for that last spot?

OF – Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers

Since All-Star 2012 numbers: 155 games, .263 AVG, 33 HR, 98 RBI 

Cruz might not be flashy, but he anchors Texas’ lineup around all the mashers that come and go. He’s nowhere near the voting leaders at OF and he’s the only gripe I have for the starting rosters. Otherwise, for the first time in a really long time, I can actually say, the fans got it right.

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Tell us who got it wrong: Tweet to @AFR_Sports

Here’s my thoughts on how each team in the AL West has done so far this season.

Houston Astros (30-49, Last in AL West)

Hitting: D

Pitching: F

Fielding: F

Overall: D

The Houston Astros went into 2013 knowing they’d be the worst team in the AL and that’s the only expectation they’ve met. Offensively, their numbers are anemic, landing in the bottom 5 of every major offensive category. They’re also on pace to strikeout more than any other team in MLB history. As a team, they average over 9 Ks a game. Their pitching is also just as terrible, finishing dead last in ERA, WHIP, and second to last in AVG against. The Astros are no better at fielding, leading the AL in errors and finishing dead last in fielding percentage and defensive efficiency. For the first 40 games of the season, they finished 10-30 and were in the conversation for the worst team of all time. Their lone saving grace has been the last 39 games, in which they’re 20-19.

Los Angeles Angels (35-43, 3rd in AL West)

Hitting: B

Pitching: D

Fielding: F

Overall: D

What originally began as a slow start has now evolved into a full blown catastrophe for the Angels. They were expected to score in bunches and compete for the AL West crown. The offense has been there, even with career worst years from Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. They score well enough to be sixth in runs scored, but their pitching and defense give runs back as quickly as they’re scored. The lone bright spot pitching-wise has been Jerome Williams, who is finally in the starting rotation (as I said he should’ve been here). Meanwhile, C.J. Wilson continues to underwhelm and Joe Blanton is an absolute nightmare to watch. Combine that with the AL’s second worst defense (see Astros, Houston for #1) and you get a team that is currently 12 wins below their current expected win total. At this pace, the Angels will finish 71-91 and win the title of Most Talented Team to Waste a Season.

Oakland Athletics (46-34, T-1st in AL West)

Hitting: C

Pitching: A

Fielding: B

Overall: B

The A’s have been this season’s most mercurial team. They have huge swings between winning streaks and losing spells, with the winning streaks having lasted longer. Offensively, they’re in the middle of the pack with one exception: they draw walks. The extra basemen allow them more opportunities to score and when they get a lead, it’s tough to take it back from their pitching staff. The A’s lead the AL in AVG against and WHIP, and are third in ERA. Their pitching is aided by having the AL’s best defense in terms of efficiency. The A’s have perfected the formula to stay near the top of the standings: play .500 ball on the road, crush everyone at home. They’re an AL best 24-12 at home and 22-22 on the road.

Seattle Mariners (34-45, 4th in AL West)

Hitting: D

Pitching: D

Fielding: B

Overall: C

You’re probably wondering why a team 11 games under .500 would get a grade of C, but the answer is quite simple; they had low expectations. Considering this team is devoid of talent offensively, they still manage to rank around the middle of the pack in most categories, except for runs scored. If Felix Hernandez or Hisashi Iwakuma could start every game, pitch eight innings and give the ball to closer Tom Wilhelmsen for the ninth, the Mariners would have a top tier pitching staff. When you add in the remainder of the pitching staff, they are decidedly below average. The Mariners can take solace in having the AL’s third best team in fielding percentage to offset the bad pitching. What the Mariners lack is an identity; they have no idea what they do best and how to maximize it. 80 games into the season is a poor time to start figuring that out. (EDITORS NOTE: Don’t forget that they traded an All-Star for a slugger who got demoted to AAA.)

Texas Rangers (45-33, T-1st in AL West)

Hitting: B

Pitching: A

Fielding: C

Overall: A

Texas has played like the top echelon team that it is all season long, and are pretty much the standard-bearers of the division. The fighting Ron Washingtons score most often via the prettiest way possible: the long ball. Texas is in the top five of most offensive statistics, including OPS, slugging percentage, and batting average. When the power dries up though, they are average offensively. Their pitching is among the best in the AL, anchored by Cy Young-candidate Yu Darvish and a host of flamethrowers behind him. Texas gets the nod over Oakland in my grades due to one key statistic…while Oakland is the AL’s best home team, Texas is the AL’s best road team at 23-18.

Strike One: Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols’ first 10 years in MLB read like a create-a-player’s stats in a video game.  He averaged .331/40/123 over that span with a WAR of 7.8.  You’d be hard pressed to find many others with a 10 year span that was that dominant.  Yet, in the year before Pujols hit free agency, he hit .299/37/99 while posting the lowest WAR of his career at 5.1.  Pujols was going to demand a king’s ransom in free agency, but signing him to a 10 year contract (also known as the Alex Rodriguez Jinx) worth $254 million was incredibly overpaying.

Dipoto had warning signs that Pujols was possibly in danger of beginning his physical decline.  In 2011, Pujols had then-career low numbers in hits, doubles and BB/K ratio, which are signs of declining plate discipline…a player who doesn’t have the same hand speed to cover more of the strike zone resorts to more gambling on pitch counts to produce the same effect.  That didn’t stop Dipoto from pulling the trigger on the deal.  Pujols posted a 4.6 WAR in 2012, and currently has a 1.4 WAR this season.

Strike Two: C.J. Wilson

C.J. Wilson took a little longer than most pitchers to bloom, spending five years in the Texas Rangers bullpen as a reliever.  When he finally became a starter in 2010 however, Wilson didn’t disappoint.  He had a good season, posting a 15-8 record with a 3.35 ERA and an even better season in 2011, going 16-7 with a 2.91 ERA.  His WAR in those seasons?  4.7 in 2010 and 4.4 in 2011.  Yet, the warning signs were there for Wilson as well. Even though he posted the lowest ERA and WHIP of his career in 2011, he also had a career high in HRs allowed, and a career low in swing and miss percentage, which are telltale signs of declining velocity.  Dipoto signed Wilson to a five year, $77.5 millon contract, and Wilson has done nothing but disappoint.  With the Angels, his ERA is up almost a full run over his 2011 season and he’s posted WARs of 0.4 and 0.5.

Strike Three: Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton’s past is well documented; but for as much trouble as he’s had off the field, he’s been that brilliant on the field.  Hamilton has 3 seasons of 30+ HRs and 100+ RBIs, while winning the 2010 AL MVP.  Yet, Hamilton’s durability has always been an arguing point of his detractors; he’s only played 140 games two times in his six seasons.  Plus, he’s no spring chicken…Hamilton just turned 32.  Dipoto ignored the warnings and signed Hamilton for $125 million over 5 years.  The result? Hamilton is sporting a -0.2 WAR and was recently dropped to seventh in the batting order.

When Angels owner Arte Moreno opened up the purse strings for his team, I don’t think he envisioned this kind of return for his money.  Pujols, Wilson, and Hamilton will make a combined $44.9 million this season and are currently producing a combined WAR of 1.7. Meanwhile, the Angels best player, Mike Trout, has a WAR of 4.1.  His 2013 salary? $510,000. The dollars and cents don’t add up.  If I was Arte Moreno, I’d use some common sense and start to fix the issue…by firing GM Jerry Dipoto.  The buck stops there.

Junior Griffey was the first player to make me love baseball for many reasons, but most importantly for this reason; he made everything look so cool.  Making a routine catch in center? No problem; he’d just jog underneath the ball, see it into his glove one handed (which completely broke the first rule we’re all taught in Little League: catch the ball with two hands!), and then whip a throw to the cutoff man like he was just playing catch with the batter.  Pressure filled at bat against a top pitcher?  Child’s play.  He’d step into the box with that same subtle swagger, with a wiggle of his hips before uncorking that beautiful swing of his, and 400 feet later somebody was leaving the game with a souvenir.

I spent large portions of my childhood baseball life trying to imitate him, trying to master that same majestic swing, trying to emulate that cannon arm he possessed.  I finally realized right before high school, 8 years into my baseball playing life, that I would never have his arm (I played first base), nor would I have his flowing swing (I had a short, compact swing).  There’s one thing that I did take from him however that stayed with me; his unflappable confidence. Griffey never seemed fazed by the opponent.  He treated game 7 of the ALCS like game 58 of the regular season, with one singular goal: to win.  That’s what I took with me into my high school days when I became an all-city player…to not let any situation get the best of me.  I ended up having a solid high school career as Griffey was tearing the covers off baseballs in the mid and late 90s.

When Griffey was becoming a rising star in Seattle during the early 90s, I used to grab the newspaper and find out what Seattle did the night before.  My favorite team is the Brewers (Sadly, that’s quickly racing to was…I can’t sit through another 90 loss season.), (EDITORS NOTE: Hey remember that time you had CC?)but my attention after seeing the Brewers box score immediately switched to Seattle’s to see if Griffey homered or had another stellar moment.  I can still remember the first day Ken Griffey Junior presents Major League Baseball released for Super Nintendo.  I played that game mercilessly. (On a side note, I won a title in that game with the Chicago White Sox, hitting 47 HRs with Frank Thomas.) I didn’t play as the Mariners just out of respect for Griffey. I wanted to face him and beat him, even if it was just in a video game.

For realsies, this game was the shit

As my life has moved on past adolescence, I still hold onto the innocence of watching baseball and thinking, “So-and-so looked so cool making that catch…just like Griffey.”  Since he left the game, the title of “my favorite player” has passed through many hands (currently residing with Detroit’s Prince Fielder), but Griffey was always the first…and I’ll always keep that quiet confidence with me.

What players did you emulate?  Tell us in the comments.

Performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

Before you go ape-nuts, lemme explain. Currently, I think that baseball has no need for PEDs in the game, and I’m glad to see that MLB is trying to clean out the rampant drug use that is currently happening.  Once upon a time though, that wasn’t always the case.

To understand why I have this view I have to explain another example that created my mindset towards this situation.  It’s the situation of the NBA in the late 70′s and early 80′s.  The NBA was on its way out the door.  After the merger with the ABA, the NBA saw a new type of basketball; renegade, individual oriented basketball that turned off fans and viewers because it was all about ignoring the team concept.  Players with the flashiest names and moves, guys like George “The Iceman” Gervin and his eloquent finger roll, was what dominated the day.  Recreational drug use was rampant; at one point it was estimated that 40-75% of players in the league used drugs.  The NBA was in dire straits entering the 80′s.  Up until 1982, the NBA Finals, the crown jewel of the basketball season, was shown on tape delay.

It took something that could transcend the game to save basketball from heading into extinction.  That something ended up being the duo of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.  Two men who were basketball savants, who were doppelgangers of each other on the court, yet were so opposite.  The both played the game with a team first concept; rarely did they lead their teams in shots taken, but they were clearly the best players on the court and dictated the action.  Yet Larry Bird was as shy and introverted as they come while Magic Johnson was like a larger than life character that was real.  Add in the fact that it drew in casual fans because of the racial demographics, and you had a formula that saved basketball.  Nearly every week, the Celtics and Lakers would play on Sunday, Celtics first, Lakers second.  Fans couldn’t get enough.  The Finals in 1983 were shown live and when Magic and Bird met in the Finals in 1984, their epic seven game series was one of the most watched Finals in basketball history. The NBA went from death knell to darling.

Fast forward to the early and mid 1990s. Major League Baseball had the same issue; dwindling interest.  The leagues top teams were mired in mediocrity.  Proud franchises like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers were .500 or so teams that really didn’t have any standout players.  The Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, and the Minnesota Twins were the standard bearers of the day.  While it’s great to see small market teams succeed, part of having a successful league is that your biggest markets stay relevant.  They don’t always have to be champions, but they have to at least figure into the equation.  Nobody tunes in consistently to watch teams they rarely know battle for spots in finals and championships.

Baseball had reached the brink of being forgotten in the public eye due to greed.  The players and owners both wanted more, and it led to work stoppage strikes left and right.  In fact, there were 5 baseball strikes from 1980-1994. The last one, which occurred in 1994, was the worst.  It happened mid-season, ruining what was shaping up to be an outstanding season. (EDITORS NOTE: And potentially Don Mattingly getting a ring) Matt Williams of the San Francisco Giants had 43 HRs at the time of stoppage, while Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners had 40. With the strike happening on August 12^th, there was approximately 40-45 games left in the regular season for most teams. It was very possible that both men could have made a run at what was then (and in my mind, still is) the Major League  home run record of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961. The strike erased the remainder of the 1994 season and playoffs, ending the season with no champion. Baseball fans were enraged. Many swore to never follow the game again.

Just like in basketball’s case, it took a moment that transcended the game for baseball to recover and once again become relevant in the public eye. It took two men on a home run race to save the game. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, two men who played for rival teams in the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, went on a home run race in 1998 that brought back even casual fans to baseball. It became a nationally televised version of “Can You Top This?”, that made people feel like that had to watch, with each home rum carrying more meaning and emotion than the last. When McGwire hit number 62 to pass Maris, I remember the CBS evening news interrupting prime-time television to show the home run. I had never seen that happen before, a sporting moment carrying so much significance that normal TV was interrupted to show it.

When the dust of that exciting summer settled, McGwire held the record with 70 HRs, and Sosa finished with 66. Fans came back to follow baseball in droves, and baseball avoided their own death knell. Now McGwire and Sosa were great power hitters, but neither had shown the kind of power they were displaying that season. Did they have the help of performance enhancing drugs or other help?  Signs point to yes.  McGwire admitted to using Androstenedione, which at the time was legal, but is still performance enhancing, as well as admitting to using steroids during the chase, while claiming he didn’t need them. (EDITORS NOTE: Puuuuure Balls.)  Sosa was caught using a corked bat in 2003. Nobody could determine how long he’d been using them though.  He was also accused of using steroids.

I understand baseball has a duty to the fans to produce and display competition that is fair and legal.  I completely agree with it, and I want to see baseball played at its highest level without the help of performance enhancing items…but baseball also needs to remember that if it weren’t for those same items, we’d probably have no baseball today.  What does baseball do?  Does it turn its back on the moment that saved it from the brink of extinction, or does it still embrace it while claiming that the items that made it happen have no place in the game, making a contradiction that looks hypocritical?  Baseball is currently opting to do the latter, and fans are at a crossroads on what to believe. With the meteoric rise of the NFL and the continued patronage of the NBA, what place does baseball have in the current landscape of American sports?

We don’t know the final answers for sure, but I do know one truth.

PEDs saved baseball.

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