Jason, Barry, Balco and baseball....or how to break a six year old's heart.

I am an avid fan of the New York Yankees.

For all the things that making that statement might mean, one thing is that I cherish the tradition of the game. I wanted the Expos to be named Senators upon their move to Washinton D.C., but am quite satisfied with Nationals. I want the mound raised again. I want hitters to remove the body armor (helmet excluded). I want the Cubs to stay in Wrigley Field, the Red Sox to stay at Fenway Park and the Yankees to stay in Yankee Stadium. I want players who use steroids to be suspended and/or banned.

What Jason Giambi admitted to before a grand jury was that he cheated. He sought an unfair advantage over the competition for at least three seasons. Barry Bonds has apparently also admitted to doing the same thing although he claims not to have had knowledge of what he was doing at the time. Given Giambi's open discussion before the grand jury about what he took, and how he took it, Bonds claims of ignorance seem especially lame and unbelievable.

Baseball has had a long history of cheating. In the late 1800's gambling was almost as much a part of the game as singles. Attempts to clean up the game culminated following the 1919 World Series and the infamous Black Sox scandal. The core issue of the scandal was that the players intentionally took actions to alter the outcome of games in order to reap direct financial reward. The result of the scandal was the hiring of a Commissioner with vast authority to protect "the integrity of the game", which is exactly what the scandal assaulted.

Since Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned eight of the Black Sox players for life, baseball has always taken "the integrity of the game" issues quite seriously. When Pete Rose was caught gambling on baseball, including for and against his own team, he was also suspended for life. The facts in Rose's case are different than the Black Sox scandal. However, the underlying issue is still the same: as a manager he had the power, and almost certainly used it, to alter the outcome of games in order to reap direct financial reward.

If Giambi, Bonds and anyone else took steroids to enhance their performance the "integrity of the game" rule should apply. Period.

"But....but.....it is just a drug issue, and those never result in lifetime bans," the MLBPA is sure to argue. Or they could also argue "sure it is cheating, but it is no different than corking a bat or stealing signs, and those don't get lifetime bans either." Their last argument might be along the lines of: "OK, but baseball hadn't banned steroids until after these incidents, so it wasn't really illegal in baseball terms at the time." And if they argued those things, they'd be wrong. I'll take them one at a time and explain why.

1) Drugs - In the past, players have been caught using illegal drugs. Some of the more notable ones were Steve Howe, Doc Gooden or Darryl Strawberry. Their drug of choice was cocaine. While it is a stimulant, it can't be conclusively called a "performance enhancer". They probably all played at one time or another, while high on coke, but their point in taking it, wasn't to make themselves better ballplayers, but to feed an addiction that developed outside of the game.

Taking steroids is not at all in this category. The intent of taking steroids is to cheat while playing the game. There's no other way to look at it. Giambi and Bonds weren't taking these things casually to see how buff they could get. They were cheating.

2) Corked bats and stealing signs - Both of these things are "illegal" in baseball and do affect the outcome of games. However, there has never been any situation that I'm aware of, in which either of these things has been cited as violation of "integrity of the game". For Ralph Branca, that's clearly questionable. But my point is, there is no precedent for citing either of those offenses as violating the "integrity of the game". In all likelihood the reason is that proving a link between the action and a direct financial reward is quite difficult, if not impossible.

3) Not illegal in baseball at the time - Try telling that to Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver and the rest of the Black Sox. They received lifetime ban for violating a rule issued by proclamation of the Commissioner almost two full years after they committed their "crime". Another thing to realize is that gambling was illegal in the United States at the time, even if baseball hadn't formally made it illegal within the game. Likewise, the use of steroids without prescription from a medical doctor in the United States is, and was, illegal at the time Giambi and Bonds used them. If an activity is illegal in the larger society, then it stands to reason that it would be illegal in the game of baseball. This despite what the MLBPA might think.

So how does taking steroids affect the "intergity of the game" and thus warrant suspension and/or banishment? First, it is roundly acknowledged to be a form of cheating. Secondly, the player who uses steroid does so seeking one thing.....money. Would Giambi have been given a $120 million contract if he averaged 15 homeruns a season? Would Barry Bonds have been paid $18 million this past season if he hadn't been chasing Ruth and Aaron?

And that's where the tradition I so cherish is being stained. Early this next season Bonds is likely to pass Ruth on the all-time homerun list. With a good year, he'll be within striking distance of Henry Aaron's record of 755. Yes, Pete Rose is baseball's record-holder in total hits. The difference here is, Rose's actions that led to his banishment occured after he stopped playing. Bonds is cheating his way into the record books. That's the difference, and that's why he should be banned.

How does this all relate to breaking a six year old's heart? Well, given my love for the Yankees, my son has developed a similar love. His favorite player, thankfully is Derek Jeter. Jeter in my mind represents exactly what I love about baseball and the Yankees: and unquenching desire to compete and win, but a respect and honor for the history of the game and the franchise for which he plays. To be honest, I always looked upon Giambi as a mercenary. Sure he fights for "my side", but only because he was getting paid to do so. Two of my favorite players were his predecessors at first base for the Yankees: Don Mattingly and Tino Martinez. It should not be surprising that they were two of the people who helped mold a young Derek Jeter during his "call-up" season and the following rookie season.

My son though, took to Giambi. He has a Giambi bobblehead on the shelf in his room. He has a general baseball t-shirt that he proudly wears because it has Giambi's number 25 on it. This past summer when Giambi got sick first with an intestinal parasite, my son prayed for his health each night. Soon Giambi felt well enough to begin playing again. My son was ecstatic that on July 10th, Giambi would be playing and he would get to watch him in person at his first ever game at Yankee Stadium on Old Timer's Day. Later when Giambi was diagnosed with a benign tumor, my son continued to pray for his health. In October, my son wanted to know how come Giambi wasn't playing in the playoffs. I had to explain that he still wasn't well enough.

So there I was last night......watching ESPNEWS and wondering how I was going to break this news to my son. Figuring there was no easy way, I simply decided to tell him that Giambi may never play for the Yankees again. Tears immediately began to fill his eyes as he asked why. I tried as best I could to explain steroids to a six year old. He said he wanted Giambi to be there next summer when we go back to the Stadium. I told him that Giambi probably won't be there. I made a point to explain that Giambi had cheated, and that cheating was wrong. I still don't know if he understood it all.

The fallibility of humanity is a difficult lesson to learn at any age, especially at six.