Peter Gammons on Steroids!

espn analyst peter gammons, the number one authority on baseball, has some interesting words on the steroids in major league baseball controversy.. i've been reading him since the early 1980s..here's his take per his latest espn column:

"When players (or anyone) rail on Jose Canseco for trying to make a buck off the steroids issue, they should be dismissed because what in the world were the guys who used steroids trying to do? Make money. Not to pick on Jason Giambi, but since he has admitted to steroid use, that $128 million kind of tells us that it worked for him, eh?"

amen brother..thanks for stating the obvious...

"When it comes to the debates about eras, yes, this one will be called "The Steroids Era," but it is an era when kids began lifting at 12 and home runs and power pitching became in vogue. All of the top 22 strikeouts-per-nine-inning seasons have occurred in the last 20 years. Asterisk? There has to be one next to Cy Young's 511 because it was the dead ball era. And one next to Jimmie Foxx because he played in the lively ball era. And, OK, one next to Babe Ruth because he played in the segregated era."

"The one conclusion we can draw now is that this era has reminded us just how great Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson really were. All three had to fight through segregation, hatred and double standards to get to the major leagues. They played in an era when pitching so dominated the sport that they lowered the mound by five inches, not to mention the fact that so many of the National League stadiums were cookie cutters that were not home-run friendly, like so many of the post-Camden Yard ballparks.

So while history and guilt is debated, determined and judged, all of us who had the good fortune to watch Hank, Willie and Frank play now appreciate just how great they really were. They have their places among the 10 best who ever played, and, like Junior Griffey, no one will ever doubt them."