Steroids ruining the buzz of Spring Training

Monday was Valentine’s Day. A day when good feelings should be shared by everyone, coupled or… Monday was Valentine’s Day. A day when good feelings should be shared by everyone, coupled or not. However, the main subject I pay attention to — sports — had no good feelings being spread at all, and all its emotion revolved around one person.

Because of this certain person, one topic topped the list of all sports talk shows Monday and has completely ruled my life, and I’m sure, for the past week, a lot of others’ lives as well.

And it looks like it’s not going to stop any time soon.

The topic: steroids. More specifically, steroids in baseball. The person: Jose Canseco. Better known as, “The Godfather of Steroids in Baseball.”

On Monday, the former Major League Baseball player, Canseco, released his tell-all book, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big.” The most-anticipated book since Pete Rose’s autobiography, “My Prison Without Bars.”

In his book, Canseco not only accuses many major leaguers, such as Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi, of being steroid users, but has said that he personally injected them with the performance-enhancing drug in the Oakland Athletics’ locker room.

Canseco’s stories don’t leave much to the imagination. He explains everything in great detail, leaving the reader with one simple question upon finishing the book: Do you believe him?

It’s that simple. Either he is lying or he is telling the truth. But when it comes to this issue among major leaguers, everyone seems to be lying nowadays. So why believe Canseco just because he wrote a book, especially considering Canseco’s reputation?

Just yesterday, the New York Yankees and their general manager, Brian Cashman, exposed their real priorities.

When the story leaked in The New York Times that the Yankees, when signing Giambi to a multi-million dollar contract, erased the word “steroids” from Giambi’s contract, Cashman denied everything.

Cashman appeared on many ESPN radio shows explaining why the story was incorrect, but now, just two days later, USA Today released a story in which the Yankees admitted to taking the word “steroids” out of the contract.

Yankee officials claimed that they removed the word because they felt they were protected by broader language regarding drugs in baseball. And thus, the continuous cycle of lying and deceit in baseball moved right along.

Now, as if all this weren’t enough, Giambi held a press conference to apologize to the Yankees and their fans about his involvement with BALCO but never once mentioned exactly what he was apologizing for. In addition to that, a supposed mistress of Barry Bonds has come out to say that she knows he’s been on steroids before.

Don’t forget about Canseco linking President George W. Bush to the steroids issue from his days spent as an owner of the Texas Rangers, saying that Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez all shot up with steroids while on the Bush-owned team.

The truth may never be known, especially when all these accused players may not want to strike up a lawsuit with Canseco. And without the truth, this will escalade to a “he said, she said,” junior high school-type of argument.

Keep in mind, too, that the only other known player who was willing to express his feelings about other players and their involvement with steroids to back up Canseco was Ken Caminiti.

The problem there? Well, Caminiti passed away last October with drugs as a key component to his passing. His stance on the issue, however, was widely known, as he stated once in a Sports Illustrated article, “I’ve made a ton of mistakes, but I don’t think using steroids is one of them.”

Until another player is willing to step up and say, “Yes, Jose Canseco is correct, and I’ve seen all this happen firsthand in the clubhouse as well,” the whole baseball world will hang on the opinion of man who once had a fly ball bounce off of his head and over the wall for a homerun.

The opinions are out there. It never ends, and it’s everywhere. “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” “SportsCenter,” “Pardon the Interruption,” “20/20,” “Around the Horn” and “The Dan Patrick Show” all focus much of the content of their shows on the issue of steroids.

Whatever the reasons for Canseco’s actions, whether it is money or some last minutes of fame, it seems as though he’s accomplished what he was getting at.

Two days after the release of his bomb on MLB, Canseco can claim himself to be a best-selling author. Go figure. At least now it gives him a title to lay claim to, since it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to call himself a Hall-of-Famer ever.

The book, in addition to the whole steroids scandal, has baseball in a tailspin that I’m afraid it may never get out of. New undetectable drugs will eventually be created, and the sport may go through this same event at a later time in the future.

Enough is enough for me. With Spring Training just days away, it’s time to drop everything and get back to actual baseball, though I’m sure that won’t be happening. It will be a media frenzy in Arizona and Florida, but for all the wrong reasons.

Baseball will need a feel-good story this year, just as it did in the summer of ’98 when Sammy Sosa and McGwire, coincidentally two accused steroid-users, saved baseball after the strike.

Who knows? Maybe this season the Pirates will step up and capture the baseball world the same way the Steelers did with football. Twelve consecutive losing seasons can only be tolerated for so long.

It’s a stretch, but hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?

Alan Smodic is a senior staff writer for The Pitt News, and he did not juice up this column.