The Ballplayer as Hero

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #5

As a rather avid baseball fan, I've had to come to grips with the fact that many of my favorite players are not very good people. Baseball is a game and I admire the way certain people play the game. I do not have to admire their off-field behavior. I do not have to admire everything they say or do to support them on the field. I make no apologies for this. 

Here's an example: John Smoltz is one of my three favorite baseball players of all-time. He's also a stupid bigot. His opinion on gay marriage? Well, let's just say he's opposed. I believe his exact quote was ...

What’s next? Marrying an animal?

This, however, has nothing to do with my fandom. I admire the baseball player for his ability to pitch in the big game. I admire the baseball player for trying to take the mound for every start despite the immense pain he suffered in his shoulder and his elbow. I don't have to admire the stupid bigot man.

So many people want their ballplayers to be everything. They expect them to be Superman. They teach their kids to look up to athletes as role models. Typical human frailty is presented as a symbol of the end of all that is good in society. As would most human beings when placed in this position, the athletes fall short more often than not. 

This isn't to say that there aren't heroes in the world of baseball. Jackie Robinson's entire career and Hank Aaron's chase of Babe Ruth's home run record are cultural and racial milestones in our nation's history. Certainly, these two men should be looked at as role models. Does this mean every ballplayer should?

In a perfect world, every player (for that matter, every man) would be honorable and noble and always do the right thing. We don't live in a perfect world. 

The players of the days before 24/7 sports cable networks were able to hide their warts from the fans. They can still be held up as heroes. The fact that they may have done "greenies" is just grit for colorful stories of baseballs past. The fact that they may have thrown spit-balls is cause for laughter at putting one over on the hitters. Cheating is cheating but steroids are somehow considered worse. We expect today's players to live up to a standard that the players of yesteryear could not have lived up to under the constant scrutiny of today's press.

Yes, ballplayers have taken steroids. No, it has not destroyed the very fabric of our society. The Earth continues to turn on its axis. The wind still blows. Rush Limbaugh lies to his listeners. Everything goes on.