Why Clemens and Bonds Are Victims of The Era

While the strike came and went, its effects didn't.  Fans threw money on the field at players at Shea Stadium on Opening Day; a fan-paid plane flew over Riverfront Stadium with a sign stating, "Players and Owners — To Hell With You"; fans booed; sticks were thrown on the field in Pittsburgh; Even Yankee Stadium (a usual sell-out on Opening Day) had 7,300 open seats on Opening Day.  Baseball was in a bad way and needed a boost.

The boost baseball needed came flying in during the 1998 season.  The boost came in the form of two names:  Mark McGwire and Slammin' Sammy Sosa.

While Albert Belle had already slugged 50 dingers in 1995 and Brady Anderson cracked another 50 in 1996 to bring back some excitement and thus fans back to the sport, McGwire, Sosa, and Ken Griffey, Jr. really brought on the heat in 1997-1998 and created one of the most memorable seasons in'98 with a homerun chase.

While Griffey, Jr. has managed to keep his name clean of steroid allegations, McGwire and Sosa have not.

70 homeruns by McGwire (a new record at the time), 66 by Sosa, and 56 by Griffey, Jr. brought an uprising of fans back to baseball, and swept new fans in like never seen before.  Baseball was back and Bud Selig and the owners loved it.

So if baseball is back, what's wrong with Selig?

Well, a little background info on Bud... he used to be the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.  After Fay Vincent's demise, Selig (a well-liked owner) came into power by election from his former fellow owners (and pals).

Now pretend you're Bud Selig for a moment.  Your buddies lost $580 million dollars in revenue due to the strike and lost many repeat customers.  Now, all of a sudden two juiced-up sluggers take the league by storm by crushing the best record in sports and revenue starts pouring into your buddies like a freakin' waterfall.  Sweet deal, right?

Wrong.  It's no secret that "Chicks Dig The Long Ball" but to ignore the fact that two men are breaking the sacred homerun record using Androstenedione (clearly visible in McGwire's locker) is ludicrous.  Do you think Babe Ruth or Roger Maris were juiced on "Andro"?  Sorry Bud, but the closest you'll find to juice in the Great Bambino is booze and maybe cranberry for Maris.  But that doesn't matter to you Bud, baseball is back and you're now the Commissioner that saved baseball.

Wrong again.  It's the negligence Bud Selig took in dealing with anabolic steroids during 1998 that recognizes him as the Commissioner who ruined baseball.  Selig did not implement a steroid testing policy in baseball until before the 2005 season.  During this time Barry Bonds once again broke the single-season homerun record and faced endless scrutiny for the way he did it (the guy gained a ton of muscle in one offseason and became 39 homeruns better in two seasons.... what did you think was going on Bud?).

Granted, Bonds has never admitted using steroids ("knowingly") and it was basically just implied that he did, but can you blame him if he did?  McGwire got away with it in 1998 (although he pleaded the fifth before Congress... where's the perjury charge there?).  What's wrong with Barry wanting in on the fun?

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