I agree that he did not have the lifetime career statistics of the other two, but he was the official record holder for an entire generation even though he did play in more games (I think – my memory is not that good anymore).

And why is Maris included in your list of standouts with Mantle and Aaron?

Additionally, there are the standouts from when I was young (Maris, Mantle, Aaron) who amassed some pretty impressive slugging statistics without the benefit of steroids. If anything, the after-hours activities of some of our heroes from previous generations makes their performance on the field even more impressive.

In fact, the steroid use does render fraudulent both the record and the sport. If it is not effectively addressed by those who govern the sport, what was once the national pastime will become the national past time. If we want to see artificial players playing an artificial game, we can purchase a video game for a fraction of the price of admission tickets.

http://sabermetricresearch.blogspot.com/2006/08...

However, your example of Ruth never having to face Negro League pitchers proves my point. For baseball, this is an embarrassment on par with the existence of the Negro Leagues.

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Steroids or not, it has never been apples to apples comparing players from different eras. Ruth didn't face minority pitchers and probably never saw a split finger fast ball. The mound got lower. The bats got lighter. Off-season work outs were invented.

You get a much more accurate idea how good a player is when you compare their performance against the peers in their era. Then you can take that comparison and compare it against how other players did against their eras. A stat like OPS+ (on base percentage plus slugging percentage measured against league average) is much more accurate than home run totals.

Am I supposed to care?

However, we do have a right to impose some minimum standard which may be unique to each profession. We expect that our doctors will “first do no harm', that our lawyers will refrain from manufacturing evidence, that our politicians will refuse to take bribes, and that our ministers will abide by the gospel that they preach.

Can A-Rod be forgiven? If we limit the scope of that question to his relationship with God, the answer is of course he can. 'He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” My personal opinion is that many baseball fans will lose what little respect they maintain for that institution if the league officials do not act to discipline A-Rod and to adopt some strict rules to prevent a recurrence.

Yeah, Jesus was a real idiot.

It seems that we, as baseball fans, are complicit in baseball's,”Steroid Era.”

We cheered Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during their home run battle of 1998, though, even if we admit or not, we had to know there was something up. After standing for 37 years, the late, great Roger Maris' home run record was surpassed by TWO players!

But we fans not only bought into the home run chase, we lionized the victor. Witness the Nike commercial in which McGwire is belting mammoth shots while being ogled by the actress Heather Locklear. Meanwhile, two Cy Young Award winning pitchers, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux of the Braves come to realization, “Chicks Dig the Long Ball!”

The commercial tag-line?

Just Do It!

“Citius, Altius, Fortius.”