Arguably one of the greatest players of my generation prior to his steroid use, Rodriguez tainted his career by using performance enhancing drugs.
Alex Rodriguez hit his 661st home run of his career last night against the Baltimore Orioles, passing the great Willie Mays for 4th place on the MLB’s all time home run list.
Last year, Rodriguez was suspended for the whole season for repeated use of performance enhancing drugs. Rewarding Rodriguez and other players like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemons, and Barry Bonds after cheating and being dishonest sends a very bad message to both current players and kids that aspire to be like these great athletes. It also takes away from the accomplishments of players that have never been linked to performance enhancing drugs.
Cheaters
One player that comes to mind and should go down as the best power hitter of my generation is, Ken Griffey Jr., who Rodriguez passed in 2012 for 5th on the all time home run list.
With 630 home runs, Ken Griffey is the best power hitter of my generation. His name was never associated with performance enhancing drugs. Griffey is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time.
Alex Rodriguez, was already an all time great and a lock for the Hall of Fame before he started using performance enhancing drugs. He does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame anymore. How can fans give this man a standing ovation? Its sickening.
It is hard to watch Alex Rodriguez this year. He is having a good comeback season. While a year off can help players rejuvenate both mentally and physically, at 39 years old, it is just as likely that Rodriguez is using performance enhancing drugs again.
Whatever the case may be his 661st home run means absolutely nothing.