Tainted Baseball Records

Sunday, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were inducted into the Hall of Fame. I caught a good portion of Sandberg's acceptance speech and it was refreshing to hear him talk about having respect for the game.

He said, "The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played. I don't know about that, but I do know this: I had too much respect for the game to play it any other way, and if there was there was a single reason I am here today, it is because of one word, respect."

It was apparent to me that he was sending a message to today's so called pampered super stars. Was he talking about Manny Ramirez or Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa or maybe even Rafael Palmiero? It was almost as if he knew that the following day Major League Baseball would reveal that Palmiero had tested positive for the use of steroids. What a disgrace! Sandberg is right in implying that today's ball players are very selfish and have no respect for the game. They have no respect for the greats that have played the game before them. They have no respect for the records that were set by the likes of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio et al.

Sandberg also mentioned that, "I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that's what you're supposed to do, play it right and with respect. If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dug out camera."

As I listenend to his speech, I found myself saying, "good for him, we need more people to speak out and not worry about offending anyone." We have too many people trying to be politically correct and they come off as big phonies.

Now we have been told that Rafael Palmiero,who pointed his finger at congressmen a few months back and made a believer out of me when he said he never did steroids, has rested positive. To me, he was one of the few testifying that had some credibility. Now, I don't know who to believe anymore. Maybe Jose Canseco was right in saying that a lot of players cheated.

In a statement released Monday through the Orioles, Palmeiro denied taking steroids. "I am here to make it very clear that I have never intentionally used steroids," he said. "Never. Ever. Period." What does he mean? Did someone slip something into his PowerAde? Has he been set up? Come on, we're dumb but not that dumb.

If they were to re-write Simon & Garfankul's song, Mrs. Robinson, the new lyrics should be, "where have you gone Barry Bonds." The biggest steroid user of all has disappeared. He is in Major League Baseball's version of the witness protection program. He doesn't want to play this year for fear that he will be exposed for the fraud that he is.

The game that I adopted and learned to love as a kid coming from a foreign country has been tainted by perfomance enducing drugs. Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth will always be my home run kings. They achieved their feats naturally. I will never respect the achievements that Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, Giambi and the rest of the big heads have attained because it appears they cheated.

If these players are voted into the Hall of Fame in the future, I hope that they will go in and placed in a different wing. They should not be put into the same building that house the past greats, like Willie Mays, Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente.

But then I say to myself, why should I worry about these high priced entertainers when there are many more serious problems that don't get an iota of publicity. What about that 2 year old at the Dana Farber Hospital that's battling with brain cancer or the mothers in the Sudan who are watching their young ones die of starvation. You might hear a peep on the news about these things while trivial matters get non stop coverage until the next trivial matter comes along to replace it.