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Those who tell you they were not shocked by A-Rod’s reported positive steroid test in 2003 are lying.  Plain and simple.  The shock value of this story is undeniable.  Should we have been shocked?  That is a different story.  As this steroid saga continues to unfold, this instance truly enforces the notion that, as the cliché Hollywood horror line goes, “everyone is a suspect.”  I was down in Raleigh sitting in on a radio show when the news came out, and here are the thoughts that went through my head:

1)    When will this end?  It seemed as if the trial of Barry Bonds might give Major League Baseball some closure on the steroid era.  Bonds would go through the legal process and then disappear from the headlines only to reappear once A-Rod, baseball’s savior of its most hallowed record, approached 762 homers.  Now, the most sacred record in all of sports will remain in question for as long as Alex Rodriguez is on the field, which looks to be the better part of the next decade.  Not enough?  For five years after A-Rod hangs it up, the debate will continue as to whether or not he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  All being told, baseball cannot be fully rid of the steroid era for somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to fifteen years.  Hopefully the stock market will have picked up by then.

2)    I don’t care who leaked the story.  This was not a case in which Major League Baseball surprised the players with a drug test.  Major League Baseball notified the players back in 2003 that testing would occur, and the players had a good idea when the test was going to be.  Still, 104 players tested positive.  If the players could not pass a drug test they knew was coming, I do not really have any sympathy for anyone who failed it.  Those who did not take the test seriously because of “confidentiality” were naïve to the fact that, eventually, someone would find out the results.

3)    This will be 81 times harder for Alex Rodriguez to deal with than Barry Bonds.  While Bonds was under scrutiny, he played in San Francisco, arguably the most accepting city in the United States.  The historically liberal city provided a safe haven for Bonds throughout half of his 162 game season.  Do you think Alex Rodriguez has that luxury in the brand new Yankee Stadium, one year after signing a 10-year $275 million contract, a contract given to A-Rod based on the Yankees’ assumption that he would inevitably break Bonds’ record and become one of the saviors of baseball from the steroid era?  That being said… 

4)    I would not be the least bit surprised if Alex Rodriguez falls short of breaking Barry Bonds’ home run record.  A-Rod is 209 home runs short of getting to Bonds’ 762.  If A-Rod continues on his career pace, he would break the record in about five years.  It seems more than reasonable that he would get to Bonds, especially since the chances are strong that he will play more than five seasons, but do you remember what happened when A-Rod approached 500 home runs?  He was in the middle of his MVP season, and it took him ten games to hit number 500, a stretch in which he endured an 0-for-22 slump.  I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see A-Rod being mentally tough enough to endure the scrutiny and attention he will receive as he approaches the record.  Now that this positive test is out there, EVERY home run he hits will be scrutinized.  If he had that much trouble with 500, it will not be any easier when trying to get to 762.

5)    Still, with all of this coming out about Alex Rodriguez, it is Major League Baseball that comes out once again with egg on its face.  The Players Union continually refused testing after the steroid problem was brought to its attention more than a decade ago, and Bud Selig has time and time again erred in his attempt to put the saga behind us.  The fact remains that the steroid era occurred in an environment that may have not been created but surely was condoned by Major League Baseball.

So where does Major League Baseball go from here?  Your guess is as good as mine, but this is a story and topic that will not go away for a long, long time.