[ls7plus]

A-Roid has every bit as much chance of getting into the HOF as Bonds, McGwire and Sosa! Seriously, I have no idea as to what to do with these guys, as they were the best of their era at a time when probably more of the stars were using than not--that was simply the culture. As Chris Rock said in Ken Burns "The Tenth Inning," if there was a pill that you could take that would make you better at your job and make more money, you'd take it too. And I'm certainly no Bonds fan--I consider him 100% purebread asshole! But he and McGwire were most probably the hardest workers of that era, and there's more involved in getting maximum results from the 'roids than just shooting yourself in the butt.

Back to the main point of the thread, though. I think it will be every bit as difficult for A-Roid's cards to appreciate, even the rarest ones, as it has been for those of Bonds and McGwire recently. Even if you like the guy, its like the homers were really an illusion, Siegfried and Roy homeruns, sort of. I always loved McGwire, and now am really conflicted about him for just that reason. There is simply no getting around the fact that the homeruns were something less than legitimate.

On the other hand, while I usually put a lot of stock in what Adam says, should Bill James be right, and these guys come to be looked upon as pioneers by generations that care far less about such things as performance enhancing drugs than we do, McGwire perhaps has the most potential to be looked upon as an iconic figure, just as he was before the scandal broke. I saw him take batting practice at old Tiger Stadium while seated in the left field upper deck, and his balls and his alone came at us with such cannon-ball velocity even at that distance that we decided we really wouldn't want to try to catch one without a glove. Another Joe Jackson type in the making, to a different generation with a different set of values? In terms of the production runs, McGwire has some very tough significant cards, such as the 1999 Chrome commemorative refractor series, with one card for each of the 70 homeruns, limited to print runs of 15 (I paid way too much for the #70 card, but may always have it). The 1998 season was the most exciting one I followed in all my years as a baseball fan at the time. Now, as stated, I really don't know what to make of it or how to deal with it in my mind.

Comments and thoughts most appreciated.

Larry