The Bigger Question

My family is baseball crazy. From March through October, all we talk about is baseball. We are stat geeks and memorabilia whores. With that in mind, I received a great email from my brother Wednesday morning:

My friends and I were having a discussion last night - if there is one player that came out and said he did steroids that would absolutely shock you to the point where you wouldn't watch baseball anymore - who would it be?

Their list included players from the steroid era in which we grew up and included current players as well; Chase Utley, Derek Jeter, Jim Thome, Greg Maddux, and David Wright and Ken Griffey, Jr. were all included. For me, however, the answer is obvious: Cal Ripken, Jr. Yes, if it came to light that Cal Ripken, Jr. took steroids, I would stop watching and caring about baseball. Cal Ripken, Jr. broke the "unbreakable record" during the steroid era. The old argument that steroids do not help you make contact with the ball is irrelevant here. What steroids do help with, however, is an increase in recovery time, which would completely take away the most amazing accomplishment in baseball history.

The Biggest Question

I have a few smart cookies in my class; they are intuitive and understand some pretty complex issues way above the normal comprehension level of a ten year-old. On Wednesday, one of my reading groups read a short story entitled, Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki. It is a very compelling story about a boy and his father who build a baseball diamond to boost the spirits of Japanese Americans while being held at an interment camp after the attacks on Peal Harbor. It fit in very well with the onset of Spring Training.

Following the story, the students were assigned to pretend that they a sports reporter and write an interview of a baseball player using vocabulary from the story. One of my students, will call her Jane, handed in the following. It's very telling and upsetting at the same time.

Me: Hello, I'm Jane Doe and I'm here with baseball superstar Ryan Howard. Ryan Howard plays first base on the diamond for the Phillies and hits a lot of homeruns. Hello, Mr. Howard, how are you?

Ryan Howard: I'm good Jane. How are you?

Me: Hey! I'm asking the questions here. So what do you think about A-Rod?

Ryan Howard: Taking steroids is not a smart thing to do. They are very harmful to your body and are illegal. He could go to jail.

Me: Yes, very true. Have you ever taken steroids? Are YOU one of the other players?

Ryan Howard: Ummm.....no comment.

Me: There you have it folks! Thanks you (for nothing) Mr. Howard. I dig your uniform.

We all know that Ryan Howard has not implicated in any way, shape or form for steroid use, and for what it's worth, I think he is clean. But if a ten year-old girl can make the connection that Ryan Howard hits an absurd amount of homeruns and that it might be the result of performance-enhancing drugs, than anyone can.

These players who decided to take performance-enhancing drugs have not only tainted our national pastime, they have tainted the minds of young boys and girls that love them so. Shame on you, A-Rod. Shame on you.