An History Of Baseball's Era Of Greed: Talkin' Steroids (1 Of 3)

"I believe baseball is a beautiful and exciting game, loved by millions—I among them—and I believe baseball is an important, enduring American institution. It must assert and aspire to the highest principles—of integrity, of professionalism of performance, of fair play within its rules.  It will come as no surprise that like any institution composed of human beings, this institution will not always fulfill its highest aspirations.  I know of no worldly institution that does but this one, because it is so much a part of our history as a people, and because it has such a penchant on our national soul, has an obligation to the people for whom it is played to, its fans, and well-wishers to strive for excellence in all things to promote the highest ideals. I am told that I am an idealist.  I hope so. I will continue to locate ideals I hold for myself and my country in the national game as well as in others of our national institutions."—former MLB Commissioner Bartlett Giamatti

--This article is not to claim any direct truth, but rather, indirect truth though literary perceptions and humor.  I do however, directly opine on certain things but the intent and only intent of this article is for the reader to ponder the inhumanity of baseball's Steroid Era  It is a history of a soul that was filled by baseball.--

Surely, many fans of The Simpsons have at one time seen the episode "Homer at The Bat" in which Mr. Burns infuses the Power Plant softball team with ringers from professional baseball in order to win a bet with a rival owner.

In my case, I remember when it was new in 1992.  The episode seemed to epitomize everything great: baseball, animation, the best players in baseball, animation, and humor.  I had the episode recorded to watch and rewatched on a VHS tape.

At age nine, it became the first time I remember being able to tolerate watching and rewatching something in its entirety.  It also began my hobby of recording every episode of The Simpsons and other shows on VHS, which I recently took to the dump.

Though I do not assert that the writers knew something we did not, I do believe that the episode now seems prescient...in retrospect.  In one case, the now infamous incident between George Steinbrenner and Don Mattingly about hair—was in fact foreshadowed by The Simpsons rather than mocked after the fact.

What seems prescient to me is that the fictional team owner Mr. Burns supplies a performance enhancing substance to the animated likeness of Ken Griffey Jr.  The writers meanwhile portrayed Jose Canseco as a hero when the writers had originally intended a storyline in which Canseco was a sleazebag—sounds like they had it right the first time.

Also to that, the authority would condone the advantages of drug abuse so long as that behavior produces lucrative benefits—sounds like Bud Selig if you ask me; who should also be barred from the Hall of Fame.  (That though makes me wonder if the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should apply asterisks to the psychedelic musicians of the 1960s for writing songs while on performance-enhancing drugs).

The last I checked though, Ozzie Smith never fell from the face of the Earth (that honor belongs to Rafael Palmeiro), yet Barry Bonds has been the one with a grotesquely swollen jaw from performance enhancing substances rather than Ken Griffey Jr. Roger Clemens is only similarly clucking around like a chicken.

The following though is not so much another dissertation on who juiced when, why, where and with what... but rather, juice for thought.

[I do not insinuate juicing by anyone not already accused by the Mitchell Report]

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