US – Friday, July 30

Howe: Love baseball for what it is, not what it isn't

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  Of course, he was alluding to a terrible economic crisis that crippled the country some seven decades ago. But that quote breathes new life when you think about the fallout from Major League Baseball’s steroid era.

We’ve got no one to believe anymore. Now that Alex Rodriguez — already one of the game’s great villains — has admitted his use of performance-enhancing drugs, the “Who’s next?” thoughts are inescapable. Guys have outright lied to the public — whether it be finger pointing at Congress, forgetting how to speak English or telling half the world on “60 Minutes.” Some of the game’s heroes have gone under, betrayed our trust and seen their images shatter like a corked bat.

But what else is there? The public’s witch hunt to find the truth among users and nonusers can go on forever, but it will never uncover 100 percent of what goes on during the 21 hours a day when they aren’t on the field. As if we’re watching Jack Bauer try to crack a government conspiracy, there’s no one left to believe. Just when we trust one person, we find ourselves getting burned.

The only thing baseball fans have left is the game itself. A game that has seen its share of cheaters for a century has survived and then thrived through worse scandals — gambling heads that pack — and will once again flourish when the dust clears from this mess.

So for now, celebrate the beautiful parts of the sport, and hate baseball’s outlaws for your own reasons. Relish in Ken Griffey Jr.’s sweet swing, Johan Santana’s unhittable changeup, Jake Peavy’s knee-buckling curveball, Derek Jeter’s leadership, David Ortiz’s dominance in the clutch and Lou Piniella’s Christian Bale-like insanity. And despise Barry Bonds for his arrogance, Mark McGwire for rejecting the American public that crowned him a king in 1998 and Roger Clemens for going a meager 40-39 during his last four years in Boston.

Just don’t turn your back on them for juicing more than an Ocean Spray factory. Because the guys you love today could spurn you tomorrow. And that’ll take away from a beautiful game, one that has been dirty forever, but one that is equally clean. Steroids haven’t changed that.

Jeff Howe is a sportswriter for the Boston Metro.