Kudos to Giambi!!

Here's the story.

I forgave Jason Giambi for taking steroids a long time ago, because he came out and apologized like a man. Some people actually hold this against him. His apology differs from a certain MLB hit-king in two ways: 1. He had the courage to apologize while still playing, and 2. He didn't use a book to make money off of his apology.

The truth is, Giambi can see the big picture much better than most fans.

When I posted a week ago about getting off Bonds' back, my point wasn't that I was fine with steroids. I'm not; they are cheating. My point is that we are all pointing the wrong fingers at the wrong people.

Getting mad at Giambi and Bonds and McGwire, etc., is dumb because they are some of the greatest baseball players of our time. They probably used steroids, but so did a ton of other players who aren't nearly as good at hitting a baseball as them. They are suspected (or caught, in some cases), because they are under a microscope for being so successful.

I think a lot of fans actually think that the only players who use steroids and HGH are the guys who hit 40+ home runs in a year. This is inaccurate; MANY players have used them that haven't hit 40+ home runs. Good God, freaking MATT LAWTON got caught using them a couple years ago. (I rest my case there.)

But not only is the sentiment inaccurate, it's DANGEROUS. Because the reverse logic begins to be believed as well, that all big home run hitters must be using steroids. Certainly not true!

Giambi goes as far as to say that steroids didn't help him win home runs. The only time I've taken steroids was when they were prescribed, so I can't say for sure, but I'd guess Giambi is wrong, and that steroids do help the occasional ball get that extra oomph it needs to exit the ballpark. However, I'd also guess they are a bit overrated by the media and fans.

But HERE is why Giambi can see the big picture:

"I was wrong for doing that stuff," Giambi said Wednesday before the Yankees played the Chicago White Sox. "What we should have done a long time ago was stand up -- players, ownership, everybody -- and said, 'We made a mistake.'

"We should have apologized back then and made sure we had a rule in place and gone forward."

PLAYERS.

OWNERSHIP.

EVERYBODY.

So true, Jason, so true. Players, ownership, managers, GMs, and most of all, Bud Selig. They have stained baseball. They have tainted records. Don't blame Barry. He cheated, but he's still probably the greatest home run hitter of all time. He just isn't nice to the media. Celebrate the moment he hits #756! But if you don't celebrate, curse BASEBALL itself, not Barry.

Bud Selig might not go to the game to watch Barry beat the record. COULD THIS BE ANY MORE HYPOCRITICAL???!! I haven't heard HIS apology about steroids yet. Why don't we hear about how hypocritical Selig is from talking heads? Because the media pins all of baseball's problems on one man, Barry Bonds, because he's not very nice, and YES, it's worth saying, because he's black.

When asked, "So why did you take steroids?" Giambi told the newspaper "Maybe one day I'll talk about it, but not now."

Well, that couldn't be any easier to read. Of course he can't talk about it now. Know why? Because this is what he would say:

BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING IT! BECAUSE MANAGERS AND OWNERS AND SELIG LOOKED THE OTHER WAY! BECAUSE MLB DIDN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT STEPPED IN AND FORCED THEM!!

And now Mark McGwire's not in the Hall of Fame?? What a Goddamn shame.

Blah blah blah --Curt Schilling

Barry Bonds is a great, great baseball player and how much of a jerk he is off the diamond is totally up to his discretion and not up for evaluation by the likes of me. It's too bad the principle reason he gets hated on is because he isn't nice to the media. The media are the vultures.

Bonds admitted that he "may" have taken steroids "unknowingly" in front of all his teammates right in the middle of the clubhouse because his trainer had given him stuff to take in the past that he never questioned.

When your trainer gets arrested and prosecuted for this stuff, of course you're gonna have to admit that you may have taken some unknowingly. It's just like Pujols' latest "admission"... Why isn't HE getting pasted by the media?? Hmmm...

Now did Bonds really take steroids on purpose? The evidence is overwhelming. Not the fact that he got bigger. People need to get off that. I mean the catalog of evidence in the book those guys wrote.

Read a nice collection of Bonds quotes. Reading between the lines, it's not hard to see his point:

Yes, I've taken steroids before. No, I don't really think they helped. I'm not on them right now and I'm still hitting home runs, right? In fact, I don't even think they should be considered a big deal. If people would just stop caring way too much about it, I'd probably freely admit everything. Tons of guys have taken steroids, and only one of us is going to be the home run champion of baseball. So if you want to blame someone about steroids (really, you should just forget about them) then blame Bud Selig and MLB for letting it all go on for years and years and years. Don't blame the one guy who took steroids who happens to be the most successful.

People who hate Barry Bonds follow one of a few particular paths:

1. They are media sheep who hate him just because the media hates him. (Get a brain.)

2. They are baseball purists who don't want their sacred baseball records broken, so they mistakenly blame only Barry Bonds for ruining everything. (Newsflash: Selig and MLB disrupted your sport's purity with an entire steroids era. Barry Bonds is but one measly player who took some steroids who also happens to be the greatest home run hitter of all time.)

3. They are Curt Schilling.

Barry Bonds does not get hated because he took steroids. He gets hated because he's not polite with reporters and he is the most successful baseball player of the past 15 years.

Seriously, HUNDREDS of baseball players took steroids because MLB did NOTHING about it. It was, for all intents and purposes, only "sort of" against the rules. Taking steroids wasn't exceptional. But players are NOT disliked for having taken steroids. No, that takes something much worse: You must be an all-time great hitter who doesn't care what the media thinks.

Barry Bonds has split baseball opinions in two, with most people being on the other side of the coin from me. But as time passes, people will come over to my side, and McGwire will be in the hall of fame like he should be right now.

NO ASTERISKS.

Rumor has it...

...Jon Scholl may have given in to joining this blog.

"i think barry bonds should retire. like i wrote on my other blog this afternoon... 'don't steal what you can't earn honestly.'" - Laura

I'll explain my ideas fully on here some day, but for now I'll say I don't care about steroids anymore. I blame MLB more than the players. Let McGwire in the hall of fame. Be happy that we get to see Bonds break the record. Do you really think Barry Bonds is never going to get into the hall of fame? That's laughable. If he doesn't someone will have to start a new committee because the old one has gone whack-o. Yet I bet Bud Selig will be in there. Who's more to blame? When I was eight years old, I knew players were on steroids, but Bud Selig was oblivious or helpless? Please. There have been hundreds of pro basebal players on steroids, but only one saved baseball and only one has over 700 home runs. Those players are McGwire and Bonds.

Happy opening day everyone. I'm gonna buy a month's worth of MLB.TV to watch the first month of the season here on my iBook.