Baseball is back. Thank you, Barry Bonds. For real. Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro -- thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. Why would I thank these law-breaking steroid abusers, you ask? Thanks to the swirling controversy concerning these individuals, old-school baseball is finally back.
In the last month, the steroids scandal shook up major league baseball worse than the San Francisco earthquake that ripped apart Candlestick Park in the 1989 World Series. After multiple books citing Bonds' steroid use and the owner of BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) spending time in prison, even Congress focused on the 'roid rage that took over the power hitters of baseball. Baseball has not been showered in controversy like this since the Black Sox scandal.
However, there is a rainbow appearing on the major league baseball horizon. As the massive power hitters shrink back to size, baseball may once again find its timeless form. As the book "Moneyball" aptly pointed out, the game of baseball changed in the last couple decades. When the ballplayers' muscles ballooned from the impact of needles and cream, the optimal way for a major league baseball team to produce runs was to wait for the sluggers to hit balls over the fence. Gone were the days of the old school "small-ball" approach on the diamond.
Yet, everything is about to change. Since power in baseball will decrease with the absence of illegal muscle enhancers, managers will be forced to manufacture runs to win games. Once again, the hit-and-run will become an integral part of every manager's arsenal. With runners on first and second and nobody out, an all-star player may be asked to lay a bunt down. A clean-up hitter may get a sign to take a pitch to enable a runner to steal a base. There will be more to cheer about than a three-run homerun a couple times a game.
A short walk over to Davenport Field (home to Virginia baseball) shows the potential fun this major league baseball season might be. The fences are deep and the players are taking good ol' protein shakes rather than anabolic steroids from drug stores in Mexico. Head coach Brian O'Connor manages a style of baseball that makes any baseball purist smile. Up and down the Virginia lineup, players are expected to bunt, steal or move a pivotal runner up a base. It is classic baseball that keeps the fans at the edge of their seats.
I don't proclaim the American baseball game to be revolutionized overnight. But a glance at the style of baseball played across the Pacific Ocean shows what we very well may see here in the States in the near future.
Players up and down the Japanese line-up master the art of small-ball, since they do not rely heavily on power hitting. While there are a few power hitters in Japan, most of the players have a makeup similar to Ichiro. As the Steroid Era comes to a close, it will be intriguing to see if American players begin to play more like the Ichiros of the world.
Some will argue that players will continue to use illegal drugs anyway. But as Bonds and others continue their fall from grace, many players will fear the consequences of a steroid scandal haunting their career. Every time I see Bonds highlighting SportsCenter as another scandal breaks, I just smile. One more player will have just decided against risking his image and public perception on performance enhancing drugs. Thanks for your help, Bonds, in bringing back America's pastime.
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