What does three up and three down mean to you? – End of an Era

As I found myself ranting aloud to an uninterested crowd at Buffalo Wild Wings, I realized it was probably time to get this off my chest. I have long been a Yankee hater, but these days I’m dishing out my ire a little more carefully.

When I think of the Yankees, two modern players instantly come to mind. Perhaps the same two have miraculously popped into your head, one standing solemnly in a long line of Yankee greats, the other daintily bobbing his inflated head alongside Barry, Sammy and all that crowd.

From what I’ve seen, Derek Jeeter is a true baseball legend. Even a hater like me has to stop and appreciate his baseball prowess and apparent integrity. But he’s not why I’m writing today. It’s the other guy I can’t stand. Actually, it’s not so much him, but how he and his roid enhanced career is continually lauded by baseball’s media elite (if there truly is such a thing).

Tonight was the last straw. As A-Roid disappointed all onlookers by merely lacing a double into the right field corner instead of hitting his 600th career homerun, the MLB talking head couldn’t help himself. Out of his vacuous mind came something to the effect of, “Rodriguez does not yet take his place as the greatest ever . . .” It was too much. I was half screaming aloud in a crowded restaurant, all guise of sanity lost to the obvious truth that I was berating an unknown announcer through an aging television set. “He’s a cheater!!! There’s a reason he’s going to be the youngest player to reach 600 home runs . . . It’s because he was pumped full of roids!”

I cannot understand how the aforementioned media elite can continually view the ballooned statistics of this era’s equally ballooned players and somehow raise them upon a pedestal equaling or surpassing those who were truly great! Why is it that the goofballs at ESPN or MLB network can’t subdue their feigned ignorance and tell their audience some semblance of truth. Here’s a suggestion:

“With that double, A-Rod falls short of his next great achievement, what we all are waiting for, his 600th career homerun. Even in an era of inflated statistics, reaching the 600 homerun plateau is an astounding feat and deserves mention among baseball’s truly great.”

Is that minor admittance of wrongdoing too much to ask for? I find it much more reasonable than what I would truly like to hear:

“As A-Rod doubles down the right field line, he misses out on this opportunity to hit his 600th career homerun. Of course, we all know his statistics are ‘enhanced’ and although he would be a great ball player regardless, in a fair world we would be equally anticipating his 400th career homerun.”

So how does the average fan filter out all the garbage of the last 25 years? Who can we look at and say, “Wow, he was a great ball player, and he did it right!”? With the widespread impropriety, I find it hard to answer that. I am not naive enough to simply peruse the White Sox roster and declare them all decent, upstanding human beings. I take a look at players’ performances in years past and pass my judgment – so and so may have been a user. Yet among all the disappointment, I can still name a few players I hope and/or believe did it right. If Derek Jeeter truly has the respect for the game that he is lauded for, then I hope he’s done it right. Ken Griffey Junior is another player I hope did it right. With the most beautiful home run swing I have ever witnessed in my semi-young life, I cannot help but believe it was naught but God-given talent.

There is only one modern player that I have heard to be above reproach when performance enhancers are concerned. I have been told this player was disgusted enough to speak out against their use long before it was popular and that he was one of the few in MLB who willingly spoke to Congress. I was also lucky enough to grow up watching this player earn his place in history as he set new standards for White Sox prowess – Frank Thomas.

I can only hope that the next twenty five years bring with it an era of purity in the game of baseball. It’s not that I don’t want to see exceptional athletes performing amazing feats. It’s just that when my son sees the next player approaching his 600th career homerun, I hope he can celebrate the fact that the player is not some man-made behemoth, but rather a naturally occurring phenomenon of baseball beauty and grace.