Glass Houses

Cal Ripken apparently thinks that Alex Rodriguez owes him some answers

ESPN Article

Okay, so I agree that the destruction of the baseball power number record books sucks. 2 days ago was the anniversary when Ernie Banks became the 9th member of the 500 home run club. There are now 25. 755 is gone and isn't coming back.

However Gehrig's consecutive record game is also gone. I have a hard time believing that Cal achieved that record without the help greenies when his feat was accomplished in an era where amphetamines were more common than steroids were in 2000. Last time I checked greenies are both illegal and performance enhancing. Sure, greenies do not make your head grow as big as a watermelon. Sure, Cal is not a giant asshole of the likes of Bonds, Canseco or a blatant liar like McGuire or Sosa. He is in fact beloved, and I am sure the media will let him skate on this one and admire him for standing up for what is "right".

Nonetheless I question the integrity of his grandstanding. I do not think that cheating in baseball is new or reprehensible. The reality of the situation was that enough people were doing it in 1998 that if you didn't, you were punished competitively and financially. I am not sure that most of us wouldn't cut corners in our job if 1. There were few noticeable consequences 2. Everyone was doing it.

Let's recognize it for what it was. A different era. We liked it then. We are ashamed of it now. It should have been stopped 10 years before it did, but it was so much fun that we forgot think about it and the powers that be were making too much money to ask a question. In fact it reminds me of a stock market bust.