Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?

Yeah, I know it's old news, but I wanted to talk about Alex Rodriguez admitting that he once used steroids. They said that he was the biggest name to get caught. SI called him "The latest and greatest to fall". He has dashed the hopes of thousands of baseball fans nationwide. His transgression is monumental news in the sporting world. But I wonder, why?



The reason his fall is so great is because we have placed him on such a high pedestal. In fact, that's the reason he gave for trying steroids in the first place. He was attempting to live up to the impossibly high expectations fans, sportswriters, and even himself placed on him. He had the richest contract in history which implies he is the best player in history, so he succumbed to the temptation to improve his game pharmaceutically.



He was already the best player in the game and by his own admission the drugs didn't make any noticeable improvement, so he stopped. The question that is frequently asked by fans who feel betrayed is, why would a player already at the top of the game use steroids to enhance his performance? I think the more honest question to ask is, why wouldn't he?



Let's be realistic here. A very high percentage of baseball players from the 90's at least tried steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Some kept with it, some didn't, most found a middle ground that they were comfortable with. There wasn't any consequence to getting caught using, so why not use? A-Rod was, and is a very talented baseball player. He, more than most didn't need to enhance his performance. Yet he fell prey to the same temptation as many journeymen who needed the boost just to make a minor league roster. Why should this surprise us?



He is just as much a fallen, broken human being as anyone. If you were told that by taking a pill you could improve your job performance and increase your wages, wouldn't you take it? Especially if you knew that most of your co-workers took it, nobody cares if you take it, and you might lose your job without it. Of course you would take it, even if you were the best employee at your office. Why wouldn't you?



A-Rod is going to suffer in the public courts for a while, but we fans are a forgiving sort if we think the evil-doer is truly repentant. That's a shame for those players who are now guilty by association. I believe there were those in the Steroid Era who chose not to indulge. Against the culture of the game at that time some players stood their ground and played clean. Sadly, as the list of players who used grows longer, the shock value of each successive name shrinks. That diminishes the achievement of the players deserving of our respect. When I hear about another one outed as a user I don't bother to ask why. I think of those who didn't use and I wonder why not? The question I would love to answer is, does that player really exist?