3 reasons why Alex Rodriguez shouldn’t get his home run milestone bonus
A step back after emerging from the Steroid Era
Major League Baseball has taken tremendous strides to remove itself from the dark cloud of the infamous Steroid Era that dominated the league throughout the 1990’s and early-to-mid 2000’s. They amped up performance-enhancing drug related suspensions and random drug testing to unprecedented levels.
Unfortunately, cheaters like Alex Rodriguez always seem to find a way. Barry Bonds was infamous for his use of “the cream” and “the clear”, specific steroids that could not show up on drug tests. In A-Rod’s case, he turned to a shady anti-aging clinic known as Biogenesis of America. The clinic was really a front for selling performance enhancing drugs to baseball players, specifically human growth hormone.
A total of 13 players were given major suspensions of at least 50 games, and all were quick to concede their faults and accepted the sanctions from the league.
Except for A-Rod. As always, he believed he was above the rules, and thought there was no way that it could be proven that he was a part of the clinic. As a result, he was the sole reason why the scandal dragged on for such a long time. He fought the league every step of the way and lost.
The league wanted to hand down a 211-game suspension, essentially ending the lifelong cheater’s career, but that was later reduced to 162 games and allowed for Rodriguez to return for at least another year to chase records and taint the sport even further.
The league’s swift movement in handing out harsh suspensions was the perfect reaction to the Biogenesis Scandal. Unfortunately, if Alex Rodriguez receives any acknowledgement for his “achievement”, even if it is only in the form of a monetary sum, it would be a step in the wrong direction.
My personal opinion: Major League Baseball should denounce A-Rod’s passing of the Say Hey Kid, even though it would never happen. Regardless, Rodriguez should never see one penny of his milestone bonus.
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