Cops and Robbers

The legendary battle involving Kobe/Lebron/Madison Square Garden could only take a week away from the woes of America's past time. And that was before A-Rod admitted to steroid use.

This weekend's addition of Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in what was supposed to be an anonymous test, in 2003. Of the 104 players who tested positive on the same list, A-Rod's name was the only one that was leaked.

Within just a few days, Rodriguez admitted in an interview with ESPN that in the years 2001-2003 (later saying 2004) he took performance-enhancing drugs. Although, his decision to quit using the drugs was rooted in his narcissistic nature (he claimed he stopped only after injuring himself before spring training in 2004), A-Rod did what many in his position haven't been manly enough to do: own up to his mistake.

Saying he was naive and stupid about 10 times during the interview, Rodriguez did not have much other than what appeared to be an honest apology. Claiming the pressure to be the "one of the greatest" was on his shoulders, he started using in 2001. It's not too hard to believe. Coming straight out of high school to play with the Mariners, the now football-sized player resembled baby-faced Davidson guard Stephan Curry. Nevertheless, this situation begs more questions than it answers.

How did he get the drugs? Is he completely owning up, or will someone dig up even more he didn't admit? Does this exclude A-Rod from Hall of Fame contention?

Only time will answer these questions, but what can be done now? Another one of the best will forever have an asterisk preluding his name, except for on his personal checks.

MLB may think it is doing itself a service by allowing players to cheat and use steroids with no consequence, but with stars dropping like flies, it's only a matter of time before this transcends an era, and permanently marks the game of baseball forever.

MLB claims that there is no place in the game for these performance-enhancing drugs. Really? Prove it. Swear it to me. For three years, it's been time for baseball to put up or shut up, and its sweep-it-under-the-rug attitude may not get them through this one.

There's plenty of blame to go around. One's first guess might be the players, but since when are they responsible for their actions? When they shoot themselves in the thigh in night clubs, assault women, and other thoughtless, shameful acts, it seems like they get a slap on the wrist, and then a slap on the butt along with a "Get back out there!"

So, who needs to step up? Crazy as it sounds, it needs to pit the MLB enforcement vs the individual ball clubs.

One of the things that most baseball clubhouses have in common is the money they drop on their star players. They're not going to consistently and truthfully test their players for steroids, and report to whomever to ban them. In what seems to be the name of the game for baseball, forgetting morals, they have to protect their investments. It's just smart business.

MLB on the other hand, whose current agenda seems muddled and unclear, needs to have entirely different motivations than the ball clubs. Their main goal should be clearing the name of baseball. They should see this steroid-abuse, as well as other means of rule-infractions, as a threat to the game. Because eventually, not only will individual names be tarnished forever, but people will cringe at the word "baseball" like they do when they hear "Barry Bonds."

Like a big game of cops and robbers, the MLB needs to chase after the players. And I mean chase. They need to send everything they can, from Seattle to Tampa Bay, to find and diminish these threats. Hit some big names too, ones that will get a lot of press-coverage. Every player caught and suspended is a win. Of course, if someone wins, someone loses.

If a club's player gets caught on steroids, he'll be suspended as his punishment. But as a punishment to the clubs, they will still have to pay the player's salary during the suspension. This would be extreme motivation for the clubs, because George Washington whispering in your ear 250 million times over would make you realize how much money you're losing.

If the MLB does it right, it would be pointless for the clubs to try to conceal any sort of steroid abuse by the players, so they themselves would probably start conducting tests to make sure their investments won't be taken away. With the potential for the MLB police to come in and take some tests out of nowhere, clubs would start to keep their players on tight leashes.

Obviously, this is quite ambitious, and almost absurd. But not as absurd as how long steroid abuse has gone unchecked. MLB must take action, and take it now. If not, baseball may turn from America's past time, to America's past.