Examining the Truth
Do the fans care?
I can't speak for everyone, but I know at least one that does.
Me.
I care. I care because baseball means something to me. I care because my grandfather and I used to talk about Bob Feller and the games he would take in at League Park. I care because my earliest memories include going to Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the strange smells of that old building and the feeling that even though the Indians may have lost 13 in a row, they could win today.
I care because at 10-years old, I sat in awe as Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire hammered two home runs each in the second game of a double header I was at. The Indians lost 12-1, and I thought "Wow, these guys are good," and wished "I" could do that.
I care because I need to know if the players I grew up with, if the conversations I had, meant something.
The conversations about whether Pudge Rodriguez was as good as Johnny Bench, and whether Mark McGwire was as formidable a threat as Mickey Mantle.
I'd hate to be sitting with my child in 15 years, talking about how I saw Sammy Sosa hit a home run at Wrigley Field, only to hear him (or her) retort, "Yeah well, he was injecting needles."
Maybe knowing won't change these things. But it will at least provide some answers to fans who want to know whether what they are watching is legit.
Jose Canseco has written a book. I am tempted to buy it, if only because I want to see how many misspelled words there are.
But his claims make me wonder, and not just about Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire.
Jose, as baseless as he appears at times, can't be making all of this up. We already know of two MVPs (Canseco and the late Ken Caminiti) who have confessed to using steroids. They can't be the only two.
As a fan, I want to know whether what I have been following my whole life has been nothing more than a chemical infested rats nest played on dirt in recent years.
If nothing else, it would show the greatness of Mantle, Aaron and others, whether Bonds, Sosa and McGwire even belong in those conversations.