Alex Rodriguez says that he will not participate in the Home Run Derby despite being the leading vote getter in the American League. The Derby is also in Yankee Stadium, Alex’s home park. He would have the opportunity to put on a show for his home fans, but he doesn’t want to because he feels that it would mess up his swing. Alex was quoted as saying, "My responsibility is to the New York Yankees. I need my swing to be at its best." While that excuse may sound logical to some, I don’t buy it.
Alex has participated in the Derby three times before and finished in 6th place each time. He has never made it out of the opening round and hit 5 home runs in his first attempt and only hit two in each of the other tries. Alex participated in the Home Run Derby in 1998, 2001, and 2002. In 1998 he finished the year with 42 home runs. In 2001 he finished with 52. In 2002 he finished with 57. A-Rod is in his 13th year and has averaged 44 home runs per season throughout his career. In two of the three years that he participated in the derby, Alex went above his average. These numbers suggest that the Home Run Derby has not affected Alex’s swing because he put up great numbers in each year he participated. In 2002, the season of Alex’s most recent derby, he hit .305 with 27 home runs prior to the break. Following the Home Run Derby, Alex hit .294 with 30 home runs. Those numbers are very similar and it does not appear that he messed up his swing.
The Derby does not appear to have messed up Alex in the past and I do not think that saying that Derby will mess up my swing is a valuable excuse. Alex Rodriguez is a professional athlete, he knows his swing and he would know how to fix it if anything went wrong. I’m confident that he could go study some film, spot a hitch in his swing, and go to the cage to fix it. I don’t thing messing up his swing is the real problem, I think Alex fears another poor showing in front of his home fans.
In an era of baseball that has been so heavily tainted with the use of performance enhancing drugs, it is an unfortunate truth that we need to be skeptical of everyone and not only the superstars.
Many people have said that although Bonds' record is more than likely tarnished it does not matter because A-Rod will break that record soon enough. Although I believe that he is clean and I hope he is because I want him to hold the record, how do we know that Alex isn't juicing?
Jose Canseco recently said that in his upcoming book he has information regarding Alex Rodriguez. Although we do not know the extent of this information we have to be weary of our opinions on A-Rod. Many people are dismissing this statement because they don't trust Canseco. However, in his first book "Juiced" Canseco was right about the steroids that were used by Giambi, Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and others. He has been right before and it is possible to believe he will be right again.
It has been said that possibly as many as 85 percent of players are using or have used steroids. Although this may be an exaggeration it shows that many players are cheating the game. It saddens me to say that we must question all records, milestones, and breakout seasons that occur during this era.
Baseball's steroid testing policy is easily beaten and baseball records will continue to lose credibility until this is solved. Baseball needs to begin testing for human growth hormone (HGH) or else it will continue to be shadowed by steroids.
In an era where pitching has become and continues to become unappreciated as it is shadowed by everyone's desire to see the long ball, we often fail to give recognition to the great pitchers of today. As impressive as it is as a result of the steroids era home runs have become diminished and 500 home runs is not as impressive as it used to be. However, 300 wins is more impressive than ever. Despite the fact that there are more members of the 300 win club than there are the 500 home run club. (22 & 23) Of those 22 members 8 have reached 500 home runs since 1990. Home runs have become easier to hit now as a result of steroids among other factors. Bats are lighter and balls are wound tighter also contributing to the spike in home runs. New ball parks are built smaller than they used to be and they are no longer able to keep the ball in the yard. All the warning track shots and deep fly balls of the '70s and '80s are now home runs. 300 wins is harder to get because of all the reasons listed above and then some. Pitching has become increasingly difficult because of the home runs. Each pitch requires more effort from the pitcher and managers are quick to pull the pitcher. This means the pitchers fate is up to the bullpen and his win is no longer his control. The 2006 season was the first ever non strike shortened season in which a pitcher did not win 20 games, proving that wins are harder to come by. Only 4 of the 23 members have had their 300th win since 1990. It is also important to remember that in the early 1970's baseball switched to a 5 man pitching rotation instead of the accustomed 4 man. On average this takes away about 6 starts per year. Pitchers today do not get enough credit and Glavine's milestone is a lot more impressive than we are giving it credit for. and other point that I forgot to add is that is does not matter what team you play for in order to get a home run (ex. Barry Bonds homers even though Giants are horrible) Pitchers on sub par teams are often deprived of wins because of lack of offense or bad bullpens.
I am currently in high school. I will try to post reguarly, but at the very least I will comment your blogs daily. I am aspiring to become a sports writer or broadcaster and plan to attend collge and major in journalism or broadcast journalism.
