Why Alex Rodriguez Shouldn't Be Scapegoated for His Steroid Use

Bronx Baseball DailyAug 5, 2010

For just about two weeks I read an article every day about how people didn’t care about Alex Rodriguez's quest for 600 home runs because he was a cheater (except, of course, the newspapers cared enough to remind me every day).

Now that he’s hit No. 600, at least half of everything I’ve read says that it means nothing because A-Rod used steroids. The Daily News even reminded everyone with a tasteless back cover.

At some level they are right. A-Rod admittedly took steroids for years. My biggest problem with this is that they are singling him out because he’s hitting the most home runs the same way the media blasted Barry Bonds for years. With every article I read, the same words pop into my head over and over: “Don’t hate the player—hate the game.”

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What I mean by that is that sure A-Rod did steroids, but a lot of players did steroids. To single him out for something everybody did is unfair. So I thought, being a good Yankee fan and also having access to a popular Yankee blog, that I would take this time to remind everyone that A-Rod isn’t alone.

Here is a list of players who, like A-Rod, decided that it was in their best interest to get a little help.

Here are players named in the Mitchell Report for PED use:

Ricky Bones
Alex Cabrera
Larry Bigbie
Jack Cust
Tim Laker
Todd Hundley
Hal Morris
Mark Carreon
Matt Franco
Rondell White
Chuck Knoblauch
Gregg Zaun
David Justice
F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill
Mo Vaughn
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Chris Donnels
Todd Williams
Phil Hiatt
Todd Pratt
Kevin Young
Mike Lansing
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Adam Piatt
Jason Christian
Mike Stanton
Stephen Randolph
Paul Lo Duca
Adam Riggs
Bart Miadich
Fernando Vina
Kevin Brown
Eric Gagne
Mike Bell
Matt Herges
Gary Bennett
Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly
Chad Allen
Jeff Williams
Howie Clark
Nook Logan

Here is a list of players suspended by MLB for PED use:

Jorge Piedra
Agustin Montero
Jamal Strong
Juan Rincon
Rafael Betancourt
Rafael Palmeiro
Ryan Franklin
Mike Morse
Carlos Almanzar
Felix Heredia
Matt Lawton
Yusaku Iriki
Jason Grimsley
Guillermo Mota
Juan Salas
Ryan Jorgensen
Dan Serafini
Eliezer Alfonzo
Humberto Cota
Henry Owens
J.C. Romero
Sergio Mitre
Kelvin Pichardo
Manny Ramirez

Here is a list of players who have admitted to PED use:

Bobby Estalella
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Armando Rios
Benito Santiago
Gary Sheffield
Jose Canseco
Tom House
Wally Joyner
Jim Leyritz
Paxton Crawford
David Segui
John Rocker
Paul Byrd
Shane Monahan

Here is a list of players that in some other way have been implicated in PED use:

Mark McGwire
Manny Alexander
Chuck Finley
Barry Bonds
Marvin Benard
Randy Velarde
Wilson Alvarez
Bret Boone
Ozzie Canseco
Juan Gonzalez
Dave Martinez
Ivan Rodriguez
Tony Saunders
Miguel Tejada
Lenny Dykstra
Dave Hollins
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Brian Roberts
Jay Gibbons
Gary Matthews Jr.
Darren Holmes
Rick Ankiel
Troy Glaus
Scott Schoeneweis
Matt Williams
Jose Guillen
Ismael Valdez
Magglio Ordonez
Alex Rodriguez
Mike Piazza
Todd Greene
Sammy Sosa
David Ortiz

Players who used drugs that were legal at the time but have since been banned:

Terrmel Sledge
Derrick Turnbow
Rico Brogna
David Bell

After looking at that list, the way I feel is that if A-Rod’s accomplishments get an asterisk, then probably every game played for at least a 15-year span should have an asterisk attached to it as well.

One hypocritical reporter who writes for USA Today proposed erasing all of A-Rod’s Texas homers. Well, there are a number of pitchers on this list who allowed homers to A-Rod during his time in Texas.

A-Rod homered off Roger Clemens; does that one count? He also homered off Paul Byrd; how about that one?

(H/T to Baseball’s Steroids Era for the lists).