Old records have been broken, new records have been made. Pitchers have had tallys go into their loss column as they have seen (in some cases) their win column diminish. McGwire and Bonds will always have asterisks next to every statistic. Tejada will hopefully be deported so maybe everyone will forget he ever played baseball in America. A-Rod will now always be known as A-Roid, but is this enough. Are asterisks next to their names, and their records, enough?
Roy Oswalt speaks out against all performance enhancing drug users.
Oswalt feels, and I agree, that all PED users’ statistics be completely erased from the baseball world.
“A-Rod’s numbers shouldn’t count for anything,” Oswalt said in a phone interview with MLB.com. “I feel like he cheated me out of the game.”
“It does bother me,” Oswalt said. “Especially for the guys that went out there and did it on talent. We’re always going to have a cloud on us, and that’s not fair at all.
“The ones that have come out and admitted it, and are proven guilty, [their numbers] should not count. I’ve been cheated out of the game,” Oswalt continued. “This is my ninth year, and I’ve done nothing to enhance my performance, other than work my butt off to get guys out. These guys [who took PEDs] have all the talent in the world. All-Star talent. And they put times two on it. (…)
“The few times we played them, when he got hits, it could have cost me a game,” Oswalt said. “It could have cost me money in my contract. He cheated me out of the game and I take it personally, because I’ve never done [PEDs], haven’t done it, and they’re cheating me out of the game.”
(Conversation courtesy of MLB.com)
Not only are these athletes cheating their colleagues out of a fair game, but they are cheating millions of fans out of money. As players’ salaries increases so do ticket prices for the fans. So next time you see A-Rod (A-Roid) on ESPN thank him for increased ticket prices. This is why you could not take your 7-year-old son to a ball game.
Who is your favorite pitcher? Has he put up the big numbers he used to? If not, thank all the PED users in baseball.
Thankfully, my favorite player, Ivan Rodriguez, got off the roids just in the nick of time. No one drops 30 pounds during the off season. Funny thing is, once he got off the juice he was a way better player. Faster, more agile, he even had a better throwing arm. Why did you need them, idiot?
Furthermore, Bud Selig should revoke World Series Rings from those teams that were tainted by drug users. As a player and a teammate you know if anyone in your clubhouse is using illegal means to increase their performance. As a person, you should feel the need to report this abuse to the game you love to MLB associates.
This entire topic is utterly obnoxious. Have a little personal responsibility, be a man of good character, and step up, as a player and as a man, take a stand against PED users in the game.
-Kyle Bennett
Kyle Bennett can be reached at minaret.overtime@gmail.com
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