Braun, Steroids, and Baseball's Fallacy of "Fair"

As a relatively young baseball fan, with memories stretching back to about the late 90’s, I have quite a different perspective of the game, from what I've seen and experienced, than that of the long time-90 year old-“I’ll die before I miss a game”-fan. So I can’t describe to you how exciting it was to watch Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs in Game 6 of the World Series, or how it felt to watch that ball dribble between Buckner’s legs, continuing the pains of so many long-time Boston fans. However, I can describe how thrilling it was to watch Sosa and McGwire go back and forth in the 98’ Home Run Race, or seeing Bonds just 3 years later beat the record that McGwire had set during said race. Its moments like these that I find memorable, that I find great, because for me they were, but I’m sure that Baseball, and many of its fans, would choose to disagree.

For the past 10 years now, Baseball has been trying to erase the credibility of great moments like these; spending millions upon millions of dollars on investigations and trials in order to find out if a handful of players deserve the infamous "*" next to their name, the most recent case being that of Ryan Braun. Whether he "cheated" or not is beyond me, and frankly it doesn't matter. What does matter is that he, along with the Bonds', Sosa's, and McGwire's of my past, has fallen victim to the almighty, and albeit contradictory, wrath of Baseball. Claiming that their use, or perceived use, of steroids/performance enhancers have in some way tainted the “integrity” and “fairness” of the great game we call Baseball……But did it really?

So I ask you...

What "Integrity" is being tarnished?

What "Fairness" is being put in jeopardy?

None. Because Baseball Has None.

-In a game where the rules change depending on what league you play in; where the strike zone changes depending on what Ump is behind the plate, we find steroids “unfair”.

-In a game where the dimensions of the field change from city to city; where a team can build a giant green wall for reasons unknown to me, we find steroids “unfair”.

-In a game where teams can spend more money on a player than the entire GDP of several small nations combined, while others are forced to compete with far less, we find steroids “unfair”.

The list goes on and on, from the All-Star Game determining home field advantage in the World Series, to some divisions, like the NL Central, having more teams than others, all of which giving one team, or one league, or one player an “unfair” advantage over the other, and yet we still say that steroids is the main problem.

Note: With the additional wild card spots added yesterday, teams in the AL now have a 5/14 or 35.7% chance of making the playoffs whereas teams in the NL have a 5/16 or 31.3% chance, a 4.4% difference by league. Just another way that Baseball chooses to be "unfair".

In Conclusion:

Do I think steroids are good? No.

Do I think steroid use should be allowed in Baseball? No.

But do I think steroids are “unfair” in a game where almost everything is “unfair”? No.

Every team from the other 3 major sports (NHL, NFL, NBA) play with the same rules, the same field dimensions, and the same salary cap as the other teams within their sport. So why is it that Baseball chooses to be different? And why is that we choose to accept this?

From my young, and probably naive perspective, i understand why Braun, or any other player for that matter, would resort to steroids to get better. (If Braun actually did) In a league littered with contradictions and instability, it’s only natural that its players would be the same. So for the sake of Bonds and Sosa and now Braun, I hope that Baseball never puts an * next to any of their achievements. For if they do, it’s only FAIR they give themselves one.

Baseball needs a change...a change that for many reasons, seems very unlikely.