Alex Harkaway
The truth is out. By now, you have undoubtedly heard how the once-beloved Mariner, Alex Rodriguez, used steroids. He cheated his fans, his team and the game of baseball. It remains to be seen if and how he will be punished for this by the commissioner of baseball,. Even if he is not suspended or docked pay, someday soon he will experience the ramifications of his actions. This day will come approximately five years after he retires: the day he becomes eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As of a couple of weeks ago, A-Rod was a shoo-in to join the likes of Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron and become enshrined in baseball immortality. He was one of the best players the game had ever seen. Not only that, but he was a fan favorite because of his commitment to winning, his ever-present smile and the fact that in an era of uncertainty, he was able to put up historical numbers without using steroids. Or so we thought, until Feb. 9, the day he finally came clean in an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons.
In this interview, Rodriguez apologized profusely and sounded sincere. He claims he only used steroids from 2001 to 2003. However, he also states that he does not know which illegal substance he used or remember where and how he obtained it. Does he really believe a lackadaisical apology will clear his image?
Even if A-Rod was 100 percent truthful when he claimed he only used steroids for three years, one look at his statistics will all but kill any chance he presently has to make it into the Hall of Fame. Right now, Rodriguez has 553 home runs to his name, good for 12th all-time.
However, if you take away the tainted stats he accumulated from 2001 to 2003, he is left with 397 home runs. This would rank him 47th all-time, well behind a long list of players who will never enter the Hall of Fame without first paying admission at the ticket window outside. Among this list is, ironically, Jose Canseco, the first person to claim that Rodriguez had juiced.
Another way to view A-Rod’s chances is to look at the support, or lack thereof, Mark McGwire is presently receiving. While one could argue that Rodriguez is a far more complete player than McGwire, it is easy to see the similarities in their situations. McGwire had the whole nation standing behind him in 1998, as he helped lead baseball out of a dark cloud (it was a couple years removed from a nasty lockout) by breaking the single-season home run record.
Certainly, baseball fans all around the country were pulling for A-Rod to do something similar; only instead of leading baseball out of the lockout era, he was supposed to lead baseball out of the steroid era by breaking Barry Bonds’ chemically-fueled home -run record without cheating. Now, baseball fans once again feel betrayed by the player they were behind.
In McGwire’s case, this has caused his candidacy for the Hall to come up short. This year, he received ‘yes’ votes from 53 percentage points out of the 75 percent he needs to get in. Is there any reason to believe voters will treat Rodriguez differently?
To A-Rod’s benefit, he still has a long way to go until he retires. Only time will tell if his play on the field will continue to be strong, or if he will cave under the pressure of the irate fans he is sure to face everywhere he goes. Perhaps over time, voters’ attitudes toward steroid users will change, and they will be more sympathetic to players such as Rodriguez.
One thing is for sure, though: As of right now, Alex Rodriguez is far from Hall of Fame material.