Let's look at the MLB home run leaders over the past dozen years or so. In 1996, three teams - Baltimore, Seattle and Oakland - break the single-season home run record. Seventeen players hit at least 40 home runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the previous high for a season was eight, back in 1961.
1998 was the another year balls started to go out like Paris Hilton does a Friday or Saturday night. But seriously look at the numbers.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa put up 70 and 66 home runs in 1998. They both shattered the previous record of 61, held by Roger Maris, in 1961. Both have done steroids. And again in 1999, both Sosa and McGwire both had chances to break their own records hitting 65 and 63 home runs respectively. In 2000, Sosa hit 50 home runs, using steroids.
In 2001, Barry Bonds breaks McGwire's home run record of only three years by hitting 73 home runs, while Sosa hit 64. By the way, even though Bonds has not admitted to using steriods, everybody knows he has.
Again, in 2002, Alex Rodriguez won the home run crown, using steroids.
A-Rod is one of many very popular players using steroids. Now, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro are all linked to steriods.
But after all of this steroid talk, there is one person everybody would be disappointed with, Ken Griffey Jr. Everybody loves Griffey. The cool swingin' left hander has the best swing in baseball and I believe, without all those injuries in Cincinnati, he would be baseball's all time home run king. If you look at Griffey over the years, sure he has gotten bigger and I think that is just maturity over the years. Remember, Griffey came into the league at only 19 years of age. Why I discuss this is because people have been starting to talk about it after Ortiz, A-Rod, and Ramirez. People would be truly disappointed with Griffey. He was the face of baseball through the 90's and people should be disappointed.
In short, with all these people in the discussion of steroids, George Kenneth Griffey Jr., please do not tell us that you have used steroids because with all this cheating in baseball, we don't need you cheating as well!
