An observation regarding Sammy Sosa

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

I'm neither defending Sammy nor cheering on an investigation of Pujols. I'm hoping to the Hamburgler that the dude's clean, in fact, because, even though he wears the wrong uniform, I like for baseball to have those inexplicable freaks of nature. Unlike in politics, I'm a fervent subscriber to the "great man" theory in athletics. There were times when I watched Bonds at the plate 10 years back and thought that what I was witnessing must have been akin to watching Ruth seventy years prior. He was having opposing pitchers for lunch daily. That inexplicable dominance, where one athlete can be so much better than everyone else on the field, is exhilarating. Pedro had it as a pitcher. MJ on the basketball court, Federer on the tennis court, Tiger on the links. No, I'm not looking to tear anyone down.

The thing is, I should feel sold out by the Bonds I was watching in awe due to the steroid scandal, but I can't. Pitchers were juicing too. And he was already the best ballplayer of that era. And in any given at bat, chances were that he owned the pitcher's ass. And that's what I care most about: the individual at bat. Records are only numbers.

I wish none of them ever juiced, sure. For the health reasons. For the shitty position that put other players in. For the fact that baseball now has to deal with some of its best players over the past quarter-century will never be respected for their performances again. For the fact that the people higher up the food chain will walk away from this scot-free. But not for the records.

That said, I can understand why the Maris or Aaron clans would be upset. I can understand why you're that upset. I just can't get that outraged about the players when my blame is spraying around like bullets.