Baseball's Problem Is Not Steroids

What a weekend for baseball! The golden boy; the chosen one; the greatest player in the game was caught using steroids in his 2003 MVP Season.

Then on Monday we have the "sort of" admission by A-Rod.

Accusations are flying everywhere. From the players union to the Commissioner’s office to the government; everyone has something to say about what did or didn’t happen.

The bottom line is someone illegally leaked Alex Rodriguez’ name. The bottom line is rules were broken all the way around. The bottom line is there are 103 other names that might get leaked!

I personally do not care who the other 103 players are. I don’t want to speculate on it. It’s wrong that A-Rod’s name was leaked. It would be wrong for the other 103 names to be released.  

Sure I have my suspicions. But you know what? The Steroid Era is over. By all accounts the Steroid Era ended at least five years ago! I love the game of baseball—it’s going to take a lot more than some guy injecting himself in the butt to change that.

The records are tainted. No question about that. But these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. They deserve their own wing. The Cheaters Wing should contain every known steroid abuser that had great numbers. Their names should have asterisks by them in the record books.

But Congress’ grandstanding has to stop. The media’s love affair with the issue has to stop.

We have to quit trying to treat the symptoms of a greater problem.

The problem with baseball is not steroids. The problem with baseball is not money. The problem with baseball is not lack of parody.

It’s time to focus on the real problems facing Major League Baseball.

Rather than identifying more of the symptoms and engaging in more speculation about steroids users, I will attempt to identify the real underlying problems causing the symptoms that MLB is facing.

Over the next week I will introduce my four-part “The State of the Game – Baseball’s Real Problem” column. Please check back often as I post each part of the story.

Friday, February 13 – It all starts at the top

Sunday, February 15 – A Too-Powerful Player’s

Tuesday, February 17 – Out of Control Agents

Thursday, February 19 – Greedy Ownership