Cooperstown: 1. Steroid Era: 0.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the best, if not most controversial of the steroid era players, faced their first go on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, and the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) voted – resoundingly – not to induct them, with both perennial All-Stars barely garnering a third of the votes.
The home run chases of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds may have been good business for baseball, enticing the attention of both fans and advertisers alike, and putting more money in the pockets of the league’s billionaire owners, but for now (both Bonds and Clemens could come up another fourteen times for induction), the kings of the Steroid Era seem a long shot for the Hall.
So much for the testosterone-infused age of inflated home run numbers, in which Major League Baseball, led by its commissioner, Bud Selig, blatantly looked the other way, if not encouraged a certain amping up of its players.
For example, the infamous commercial below, “Chicks Did the Long Ball,” where All-Star pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine decide to bulk up in order to be more appealing to “chicks” like Heather Locklear.
“Hey! We got Cy Young winners over here!”
Looks like Maddux and Glavine may get the last laugh after all.
Or, maybe there was just a bit too much truth to this old Nike add, encouraging its viewers to “Just do it.” Uh huh.
