Another year, another baseball steroids scandal. 2009 has barely begun and the impending season is still a couple months away, but baseball has once again stepped into the negative spotlight of the sports world.
With more and more information contained within the Mitchell Report being released and more people stepping forward with steroid use allegations, baseball keeps falling deeper and deeper into the abyss created by this steroid-filled era. However, unlike past revelations about steroid usage, this recent scandal involves what should have been baseball’s savior: Alex Rodriguez.
In a 2007 interview, Rodriquez denied using steroids, HGH, and other forms of performance-enhancing drugs. However, it has been revealed by Sports Illustrated, that Rodriquez did indeed test positive for anabolic steroids in 2003. At the moment Rodriguez is refusing to comment on this report and is telling reporters to talk to the MLB Player’s Union about the allegations. However, whether the allegations are true or not, it’s going to leave a dark cloud over Rodriguez and the entire league.
The group most directly affected by this report is Rodriguez’s current team, the New York Yankees. The Yankees owe Rodriguez approximately $270 million over the next 9 years, a staggering sum for a player who has to deal with the terrible taint of steroids.
Rodriguez, who was already on thin ice with Yankee fans for his poor playoff performances in the past couple of years, has had to recently deal with gossip concerning himself and pop superstar Madonna, steroid accusations in numerous books, including Jose Canseco’s 2008 book “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball,” and rumors in ex-manager Joe Torre’s new book that he is a bad teammate.
These off-field problems negatively impacting team chemistry within the Yankees organization and could very well lead to a parting of ways between Rodriguez and New York.
The entire state of baseball will also be rocked by this shocking revelation. Baseball was relying on Rodriguez to be their guiding light in this dark era of steroids. With players like Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and the primary target of steroid usage, Barry Bonds, tainting the sanctity of baseball, the league was hoping to find a player to become a symbol of hope for the league, and Rodriguez was their prime candidate.
When Bonds broke the all-time home run record, everyone who covered baseball begin to question whether or not an asterisk should be placed by the record due to the steroid accusations against Bonds. Before this report was released, Rodriguez was destined to become the “clean” home run king, as he is on pace to shatter Bonds’ current home run record. However, with Rodriguez’s career now in question, it appears that baseball will have to search for a new knight in shining armor.