What Has Happened To Our Heroes

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that baseball great Sammy Sosa had tested positive for steroid use during the 2003 Major League Baseball Season. Even though many followers of the game suspected him of such, this brings Mr. Sosa under suspicion that he may have lied to a Congressional Hearing in 2005, when he testified he had never used the substances. Now retired, Mr. Sosa says he will be relaxing at his home in the Dominican Republic and looks forward to the day he will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This prospect is now in jeopardy in lieu of the report of his positive test results.

The following is an excerpt from Mr. Sosa’s testimony at the Congressional Hearing on banned substance use in Baseball; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Sosa
"To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs."
"I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything," he told the House Government Reform Committee on March 17, 2005. "I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean."

The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Jose Canseco, the author of the book “Juiced”;
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/sports/baseball/18steroids.html
Jose Canseco, a former player who said in his recent book, "Juiced," that he and others, including Mr. McGwire and Mr. Sosa, used steroids, and Curt Schilling, a pitcher who has been outspoken in criticizing steroid use, testified but contradicted previous public statements.

Those mentioned above, along with, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramierez, Raphael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez, were looked up to by many of our children. Just the same as we looked up to past greats like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, to name a few. But, our baseball heroes, did not use drugs to play in greatness. They used their own abilities the best they could and we loved them for it. The heroes of yesterday were real and honest. They were true legends. This is something the baseball players today lost in their quest for fame and fortune. Maybe the thought of having to compete with the past made them feel so inadequate they felt they had to cheat. Or, was it simply the money. The obscene amount of money Team Owners threw at these individuals to feed their pockets and egos. Or, to try to turn baseball into an entertainment industry instead of the wholesome sporting event, it was always meant to be. Maybe, the Team Owners and the Players Union are just as culpable.

Whoever is to blame, one thing is certain, baseball must change the way they do things if their credibility is to ever be restored. The game itself will never be ruined. It is too much a part of the American fiber to allow that to happen. But, heroes will have to be made. From now on, they will be made once again, by their ability on the field. Not depend upon their credibility from a Lab test.

That’s How I See It.

Websites of reference;
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_sosa_drugs
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html?_r=1&ref=sports
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/sports/baseball/18steroids.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Sosa