Good Sports
by Budd
Glassberg
Reprinted
with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on December 13, 2006
Grandpa, Billy and the
HOSPIS Visit
Scene: Far in the future, Cooperstown, NY in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Grandpa and Billy enter the well-lit high ceiling hall with inductee’s plaques gracing the walls. Grandpa points to one of the plaques.
G: This plaque says; Cal Ripkin Jr. played 21 years, all with the Baltimore Orioles. He is considered Baseball’s Iron Man having played in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig’s longtime record by more than 500 games. Ripkin was only one of eight players to hit 400 home runs and have 3,000 hits.
B: Grandpa, he must have really been a dedicated player.
G: That he was, Billy. Here is another great player. Tony Gwynn played 20 years with the San Diego Padres, the final 19 years hitting better than .309 each year. His career batting average was .338. In 1994 he hit .394. Gwynn won 5 Gold Gloves and led the NL in batting 8 years.
B: Grandpa, on our last visit here, you took me to the HOSPITAL where we saw that Pete Rose guy’s plaque. What does HOSPITAL stand for?
G: Hall Of Shame Players In Trouble Although Legends. We saw Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb. Would you like to see another wing in that same area?
B: Let’s go.
Billy
and Grandpa travel down a dimly lit, low ceiling hallway with a sign over the
entrance.
B: Grandpa, what does that sign say?”
G: HOSPIS, it stands for Hall Of Shame Players Involving Steroids. It is where they put the plaques of baseball players whose statistics would easily qualify them for the regular Hall of Fame, but were suspected of injecting steroids in order to produce those numbers.
Grandpa
and Billy walk down the fifty-yard hallway; Grandpa has to duck to avoid
hitting his head on the ceiling.
They get to the end of the long hallway and enter a small musty
room. They can barely make out the four
tarnished plaques in the poor lighting.
Billy points to the first plaque.
B: Who’s that?
G: Mark McGwire. In 1998 he hit 70 home runs breaking Roger Maris’ single season record. He hit 583 career home runs and 1,414 RBI. His fans called him Big Mac. Next to him is Barry Bonds who in 2001 broke Big Mac’s single season home run record with 73. He was a 7 time National League MVP hitting more than 700 career home runs. Next to him is Sammy Sosa who three times hit more than 60 home runs in a season. He ended up with 588 career home runs and 1,575 RBI. Finally there is Rafael Palmeiro’s plaque. He hit 569 career home runs, 1,835 RBI and is only one of four players to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in his career. Palmeiro tested positive for steroid use, the other three were suspected of it but were not tested for it during their best years.
B: Grandpa, why did these players use steroids?
G: They found that the drugs would make them stronger and gave them an advantage over players not taking the drugs. It is why so many home runs were hit in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Finally, after years of doing nothing to stop players from using steroids, baseball began testing players and penalizing the players for using the banned substance.
B: But wasn’t using the steroids cheating?
G: Sure, but as long as baseball had no penalty for using the substances, some players figured they were just beating the system. Eventually, the negative effects of long time steroid use including user rage and health problems forced baseball to ban its use. Now, putting these players in HOSPIS instead of the regular Hall serves as a lesson to kids like you to look up to players like Ripkin and Gwynn rather than McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Palmeiro.
Billy
nods understanding the message. They
head back to the main hall.
G: Next week let’s go to
Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns, including Hustle Charlie to the Hospital where Grandpa and Billy first visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.