Alex Rodriguez Took Steroids 5 Years Ago. Who Cares?

If you’re one of the millions who attended a Major League Baseball game last season, obviously you don’t. If you’re one of the millions who watched a Major League Baseball game on television last season, you don’t either. And if you’re one of the millions who still consider themselves a fan of Major League Baseball through all of this, clearly you don’t really care either.

I know I don’t. Odds are, even as someone who despises the Yankees, I won’t even crack “The Yankees best player is a cheater” remarks to fans of the Bronx Bombers. Why? Because the odds are actually pretty good that at least a handful of my favorite players also juiced at one time or another. The same goes for you.

You might be mad. You might even be heartbroken that the game you’ve loved since childhood has come to this. But let me assure you that deep down, you don’t care as much as you think you do and you will get over it—at least enough to enjoy the game for the rest of your life.

Although A-Rod is the big name this time, it was Roger Clemens last time, Barry Bonds before that, and the Rafael Palmeiro/Sammy Sosa/Mark McGwire debacle before that. The list goes on and on. There were 90 names in the Mitchell Report and over 100 players failed a drug test the same time A-Rod did. Of course, we may never know who they are since the list was meant to be confidential, but does it even matter? And what about all the users we don’t know about?

The best way to judge an era’s impact is to imagine how it will be looked upon in the future. When I’m 80 years old, sitting in my rocker daydreaming about this era, I won’t be smashing holes through my wall with my cane as a result. Like all of you, I’ll never completely forget the steroids and the related controversy, but more so, I’ll remember feeling like a 10 year old as I sat behind the Braves’ bench at Spring Training in Florida last year. I’ll remember meeting Nate McLouth last season at a Pirates game and getting him to sign my all-star shirt with his name on it. I’ll remember chatting with guys like Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Gavin Floyd, Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, and Jon Lester while they were still playing Double-A ball. I’ll remember paying almost $100.00 for MLB TV so I can watch every afternoon game of the season at work.

I wish steroids were never a part of the game. I really do. But, I accepted a long time ago that they had an impact and I’m over it. The way I see it, we will never know every name of every player who popped a pill or stuck themselves with a needle, so why even worry about it? Major League Baseball, and Congress for that matter, has made significant strides over the last couple of years and so I believe it is safe to say that the steroid era is over.

So be angry. Be disappointed. Be whatever you want. But, at end of the day, just ask yourself one question: How much do I really care?