Should We Care Any More?

Once again baseball is in the headlines for the wrong reasons. No shocker here that it is about PED's. The True question is should we care anymore? Baseball will never be "totally" clean, the record books are already tarnished, and Cooperstown has locked it's doors for this years Hall of Fame class.

Have fans become numb to steroids and they just don't give a crap anymore? I will say this, steroids did help resolve the damage that the 1994 work stoppage caused, but now when you look back, PED's have caused more damage then the 94 strike did.

The whole 90's era and even into the 2000's every player who laced up his cleats has been marked as a cheater, even if he never juiced he still is labeled as a player that potentially took steroids. Even the great Jim Thome carries a black cloud, because he crushed 600 home runs during this time frame, but this does not mean he took steroids, but he could have very easily have.

We have had the Mitchell report, we have had Alex Rodriguez confession, but the damage is still going on. Even the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun is linked to steroids, it is one thing for A-rod to be linked, but now you have one of the best young studs linked to PED's, baseball needs to make a strong example that they won't tolerate this anymore.

Baseball, heck even any sport will never be truly clean; but if baseball wants fans to not question every home run, or if some player ever does chases a home run record we do not want this PED cloud hanging over them. Baseball should pull a Pete Rose. Ban a player for life like A-rod. If this new information is correct then A-rod is still juicing even after he said he has never juiced since becoming a Yankee in 2004. I would hate to see A-rod banned for life, but handing out a 50 game or even a 100 game suspension wont cut it, the reward still out weights the risk, which is getting millions of dollars on your next check or just sitting out a 100 games. Prime example look at Melky Cabrera, he was crushing it last year; got busted for PED's sat out 50 games and still signed a two year contract for 16 million dollars with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baseball has had a history of banning players for life, but never have they banned someone for juicing, but this is the only route for baseball to go if they want to end this steroid era. If baseball bans A-rod for life that will send a swift message around baseball that they are done with this era, and even a superstar player like A-rod is not untouchable for a a lifetime ban. But Bud Selig wont do that, instead he will hand out some 100 game suspensions, players will serve their sentence, and in a few years we will have another round of PED scandal, because players get a big reward if they beat the system just like Melky, and A-rod have done.

Baseball is a traditionalist sport, chicks dig the long ball, and you used to be frowned upon for spitting on a baseball, but now modern science has given players like Barry Bond, and Roger Clemens the tools in order to reach levels that no other player has ever touched. Chicks might still dig the long ball, but every time you see a home run you will always wonder is that player juicing? Baseball will forever be linked to steroids, it honestly doesn't know who is their true home run king, but in order to bring some integrity back to its sport, Selig must do something he hates doing which is going against tradition; but it is the only way to bring back sanity to a sport that was so insane to ignore what happened during the 90's.