So, A-Rod has become the youngest member of the once prestigious 600-HR club. Yes, I said it. It was once prestigious. Before the 2000s, there were only 3 members of the club; Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. That’s over 100 years of major-league baseball with only three players eclipsing 600 home-runs in a career. That’s pretty impressive considering the amount of talented hitters that played in that time frame.
Since 2002, however, there have been FOUR new additions to the club, with three (Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and A-Rod) being steroid users (Bonds was never officially caught, but even the Bantu people in the most remote parts of Africa know he was on the juice.)
This is exactly how steroids have ruined baseball; clean players like Ken Griffey Jr. don’t get credit anymore because they are lumped in with cheaters like A-Rod. Milestones don’t mean anything anymore; the 500/600 club is a sham now, and, again, it hurts people who have actually reached the plateau without using shady methods.
Years ago this would’ve been a big deal, but now it is merely a small blip in sports radar. Now we have to wait to see how long it takes for A-Rod to eclipse Bonds on the all-time list. But does it really matter anymore?
I don't know man, to say the 600 club is not prestigious...well, I'm just not with you on that one. ONLY 7 players have ever made it out of the thousand of players that have ever played baseball. A-Rod used steroids...for THREE years when he was in Texas. Sure he hit 52,57,and 47 home runs in that span. He still had other seasons where he was able to put up 45+ dingers...3 straight seasons of 40+ big flys before he was moved to Texas. You look at the evolution of baseball and you begin to notice players are just outright getting bigger, roids or no roids. Back in the day it was not in the routine of players to hit the gym and bulk up and now coaches and trainers are getting players (especially high school) in the habit of sticking to strict workout regiments in order to be in top physical shape. Also you need to factor in whether or not the league was a pitchers league during certain eras and where these guys were playing as far as stadiums.
ReplyDeleteTo simply say that steroids are the reason for FOUR new members of the 600 club in the past decade is just a poor excuse in my opinion. Im not saying that steroids did not play a factor, I'm just saying that steroids and an evolution of the game are the reason for what is happening.
And I don't care how jacked you are...if you have terrible mechanics and what not, steroids don't mean shit. A-Rod, Sosa, and Bonds were NOT terrible hitters that turned into home run producing machines. They had all the right talent and mechanics and fundamentals there before ever taking a banned substance.