The Wild Weekend Upon Us

The Wild Weekend Upon Us

This weekend features a slew of games with divisional and wild card implications. As a baseball fan, you couldn’t ask for anything better. You’ve got Yankees-Orioles, Rays-A’s, Indians-Tigers, and Cardinals-Pirates. The Reds also face an important series against the Rockies, 3.5 games back while the two teams ahead of them beat up on each other.

The two teams facing the most pressure this weekend are the Yankees and the Pirates. The Yankees sit 5 games back and need all the help they can get in addition to taking care of their own business. Considering all the injuries they suffered through during the season it’s a miracle they are even in this position. The Yankees-Orioles matchups are usually dog fights between two evenly matched teams and I expect this weekend to be no different. CC Sabathia needs to get back on track and be the pitcher he has been in the past if the Yankees want to have any kind of shot at the playoffs. He needs to step up big time tonight and set the pace for the rest of the series.

The Pirates are in very unfamiliar territory playing meaningful games as the calendar hits September. They were able to overtake the Cardinals for a stretch when the birds fell silent, but they have since fallen back into second place as the Cards have gotten hot again. The games are being played at PNC Park so you know the fans will be bringing their A game and will be out in full force to give the team that little bit extra it will need. If the Pirates want to avoid the one game playoff this is the series where they need to make a statement and build some momentum for the stretch run.

The Rays-A’s series will be an entertaining one for sure. They are the two wild card representatives in the AL at the moment and both are hoping the Indians, Yankees, or Orioles don’t sweep and really put a threat into their standing. Just like the Pirates fans, the Oakland fans will be out in full force and ready for the series. In my opinion Oakland has the best fans in the game. They are loud, creative, and have bonded with this team of non-superstars.

Lastly, the state of Ohio will be watching intently this weekend as their two teams look to make a statement. Cincinnati travels to Colorado and can keep their hopes for a division title alive by taking care of business. The Indians face a tough task with the Tigers and their pitching staff and I see them as the one team in the bunch who will play themselves out of contention this weekend.

Whether this weekend clears up the playoff picture or does even more to mess it up and throw it in shambles it will be exciting. Who will rise to the challenge? Who will falter? Buckle up and get ready for a tremendous weekend of action baseball fans.

What If?

What If?

Today we are going to ask a question that has become prevalent in the world of sports. What if? If something happened that changed the course of history or the outcome of a certain event, how would things be different right now? What would the after effects be? The specific what if question I would like to get into today is this, what if Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens didn’t hold the respective records for all-time home runs and Cy Young awards? Would we still care so much about the steroid era? Would we still ridicule and vilify them?

Before getting into Bonds, let’s go back a little further. The year was 1998 and the whole world was captivated by the home run chase of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Baseball was still digging itself out of the grave due to the strike of 1994 and this home run chase was the shot it needed (pun very much intended). Attendance, ratings, revenue, and general interest sky rocketed and baseball was back at the forefront. One of the coveted records in the game had a chance to be broken by not one, but two men. As we know both men broke the record, and later became embroiled in the steroid scandal, and it came out that both had been using performance enhancing drugs for years. The thing is though, we as fans had a sneaking suspicion while the chase was happening. We all were asking the question, but we were afraid of the answer. These men gave us a reason to get back into the game we all loved so much and reminded us why exactly it was we did love it so much.

Now fast forward to Barry Bonds. In 2001, he broke the record, now being held by McGwire, and once again the nation was captivated by what they were witnessing. This time, unlike in 1998, we weren’t captivated by popular, well liked players. Barry Bonds had always been a conceited, arrogant individual, so people weren’t excited to see him break the record. They were just captivated by the fact this performance was not at all humanly possible. How, at such an advanced age, could Bonds be putting up numbers the likes of which we had never seen? Of course it then came out that later in his career Bonds was using steroids and an already despised player watched his unpopularity soar to new heights.

Roger Clemens was just like Barry Bonds. He took the league by storm and put up numbers that were Hall of Fame worthy even before the steroids came in to play. He was also a conceited, arrogant individual who was not well liked, just like Barry. Fans watched in utter amazement as he dominated the competition at an advanced age, on his way to a record seven Cy Young Awards.

Here now is where the what if comes in. These two men own records in baseball history that are held in such high regard and thought of as bench marks for Hall of Fame candidacy and overall legacy building. What if they didn’t hold these records? They would still be unpopular because of the attitudes they played with but would we as fans be making such a big deal over the steroid era? Guys like Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi have admitted to steroid use but they don’t hold all-time records and are viewed as nice guys and good teammates. It’s almost as if they get a pass. As a Yankee fan, I worship the ground Pettitte walks on, so I’m just as guilty, but the fact remains he still used performance enhancers. What if Ken Griffey Jr. held the home run record? What if Greg Maddux or Randy Johnson won the most Cy Young’s? All three of those guys are clean as far as we know. No evidence has ever come out that they were cheaters. So, if they held the records would we really care as much about steroids? Who cares if guys cheated when the clean ones had all the glory.

I personally think the answer is no. When the cheaters were breaking records we were enthralled with their performances. No one gave a damn how they were achieving these feats. We wanted to believe they were innocent, but there was so much buzz and excitement that we took an attitude of let’s wait and see what happens. Why question it in the moment? It ruins everything. Questions should be asked later when it’s not as relevant. Well, when the news came out, these guys may as well have been Satan reincarnated because they were Public Enemy No. 1. If guys who were clean held these records it would be time to build shrines and pedestals to place them on. Take that cheaters, he didn’t need help to achieve greatness. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not victims of circumstance; they’re victims of their own attitudes.