It looks as though Alex Rodriguez’s ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame has just been canceled.
Or it’s about to be, if Major League Baseball does what it is threatening to do, which is suspend the tainted New York Yankees superstar for using performance enhancing drugs.
A-Rod, once thought to be baseball’s new home run king – once he passed Barry Bond’s total of 762 career home runs – well could be finished as a professional baseball player. He’s been hurt and hasn’t yet played this year. He has 647 HRs so far in his career. That could be where it ends.
He’s not the only superstar who’s facing suspension. Another one is Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, a one-time National League most valuable player who once was cleared of an earlier allegation of PED use.
Where does all this go? Straight to the tabloids if these suspensions come through.
For me – who once used to follow baseball intently long before the advent of free agency, zillion-dollar contracts and suspicions of cheating – I’ve just about had enough of reading about these clowns.
Bonds left the game under a seriously dark cloud. He hit more home runs than anyone else, but there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that he cheated his way to the top of the HR ladder. Those suspicions among knowledgeable baseball observers kept him far short of Hall of Fame entry when they counted the ballots earlier this year.
What’s more, Henry Aaron is still the home run king in my eyes.