in shadow of game

In the Shadow of the Game

David Segui has a confession. Lean in really close, and please don't

laugh. I'm only going to say it once. You won't believe it, and I know

its a little funny, but guess what?

He used HGH.

He had a doctor's prescription, but not a waiver from MLB. Whatever,

they can't test for it.

Segui will be labeled a cheater and a fraud, for his 139 career home

runs, and .291 batting average. According to reports, he started using

HGH in 2003, when he hit 5 home runs, then hit another one in 2004.

6 home runs. A travesty.

Segui and Jason Grimsley are now the two faces of HGH in baseball.

Before the expansion era, players of their caliber would be nothing

more then late september call-ups and career minor leaguers.

Isn't that great? The feds have done this massive hunt and have turned

up two sub-par players. Its so great that our country is so problem

free that we can investigate baseball.

But, I digress. We're told by the talking heads on SportsCenter that

steroids are evil, and that those who use them are scum. Its almost to

the point that every home run is automatically suspicious. The first

thing people say about Albert Pujols after the inevitable, "Wow" is,

"I hope he's clean."

While watching a ballgame the other night (interstingly, a Cardinal's

game) the topic of steroids came up, as it so often does. I think MLB

mandates it. You can't rebroadcast the game, and the announcers have

to talk about steroids, and what the league is doing to stop them.

But, one of the announcers pointed out that the game will survive. It

always has, and it always will. Its survived gambling scandals and

drug users. It will continue.

Know why? Because the game is just that. Its a game. There's a bunch

of stat freaks out there, and sometimes I can be one of them. But, I

don't get obsessed with them. I enjoy the game. I go to the ballpark,

listen on the radio, and turn on the TV because I love the game, and

will always be entertained by it. If someone hits a 500 foot blast,

thats awesome. If he flies out to the warning track, well, its not as

impressive, but the next batter comes up, the game moves on.

Everyone wants to protect 714 and 755. And I don't blame them.

Baseball's allure is that it is timeless, and its history is

remarkable. But, do we need to protect those numbers in this style?

This is no longer an investigation. It is a witch hunt and a mud

smearing campaign. At times, it reminds me of the French media's

attack of Lance Armstrong. Its shameful.

I'm not saying that players like Barry Bonds are innocent, and they

certainly aren't angels. And if they are found guilty of using

steroid, by all means, throw the book at him. But, in the mean time,

we don't need to put wires on pitchers or send in the Marines.

And should steroid users retire and slip out of the public eye and

never be caught, let history be the judge. How will fans fifty years

from now view Bonds? What will they think of HGH?

As for now, all we have is hearsay and hollow accusations, and thats

not good enough. If this is just the "tip of the iceberg" show me the

iceberg.

But no matter what happens out of this whole steroids mess, just