Baseball

I have been a baseball fan for as long as I remember. My father was (and still is, to a certain extent) a fan, my grandfather was a fan, and my grandmother, at 91, still watches all the games. However, my interest in the game has waned somewhat, and I am troubled, like most fans, about certain trends.

When I was a kid, I was consumed by it. I collected baseball cards, went to as many games as I could, and knew who all the players were. Demands of living an adult life cut back some of the knowledge and enthusiasm, but over the years I have still managed to keep up with the game, particularly rooting for my favorite team, the Detroit Tigers. But for the past few seasons, I've grown more and more disgusted.

I have no problem with players making as much money as they can get. I side with them on most labor issues. But let's face it, baseball would be a more enjoyable sport to follow if there were some sort of salary cap. Teams with lower payrolls can win--the Yankees have not won a World Series in five years. But there are some teams that just have no shot from the very beginning. The Florida Marlins will have a payroll that is less than Alex Rodriguez's salary. That just doesn't sit right.

And now we have the steroids cloud. Barry Bonds could conceivably break the most cherished record in sports if he hits 48 home runs this season. But, aside from the most naive fans, this will not be celebrated, it will be viewed with sneering skepticicsm. Bonds is under a heavy cloud of suspicion for using steroids, and like many other sluggers of the past ten years, his records seem meaningless.

My love for baseball is more in the abstract, of what it could be. I like going to Cooperstown every July for the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, where baseball is celebrated as an ideal. If only the real thing could live up to that ideal.