Asterisked

Pardon My English ^ | December 10, 2004 | Aaron Margolis

[djjava]

Professional baseball–America’s pastime. You don’t have to be an avid fan of the game to know the names of Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and other greats, or to realize that the sport of baseball today is not as it was when the three previously mentioned greats played. As a radio ad I once heard asked rhetorically, “how did the word ‘negotiate’ make it from the business page to the sports page?’ Admittedly, I am not a huge sports fan. Nevertheless, I understand the basic rules, now how to read the statistics, and whenever the Red Sox make it to the playoffs (and this year, they finally won the World Series), I get particularly interested in the game so as to avoid being called “not a true fan.”

While in general, the minutia of the game means little to me, the latest news from the world of baseball concerning the use of steroids and other performance enhancing substances has caught my attention. Take for instance Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, who has admitted using steroids, or Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants who has finally admitted that he used substances that are consistent with known BALCO “designer steroids.” In the case of Barry Bonds, he maintains that he thought they were harmless products like flaxseed oil and rubbing balm for arthritis.

What do we do now?

[PowerPro]

truly sad

bttt