Sept. 23 is an odd day in baseball history, a day associated with events that were once celebrated. On Sept. 23, 1998, Jose Canseco, the godfather of the steroid era, became the first member of the 40 home run-40 stolen bases club. Nine years later, the Seattle Mariners broke the single-season record for most home runs by a team. They hit 264 home runs that year, a record that still stands today.
Both of these events were celebrated as late as five years ago. Today, they are both laughable. Think about that ’97 Mariners squad and how many home runs 264 really is. The 2010 Yankees, who have the top offense in the league, have only hit 186 this year in a park that has been ridiculed for being so homer friendly. Six Mariners hit over 20 home runs in ’97, including A-Rod and Griffey of course.
This is a record that will stand for a very long time. Now that we are past the Steroid Era, I doubt we’ll ever see a team hit over 260 home runs. It’s just not supposed to happen.
On that note, you know what else probably won’t happen again? A 40-40 season. Why? Because it’s not supposed to happen, it’s just not natural. Someone who slugs 40 homers should not be able to be quick enough to steal 40 bases. There have only been four 40-40 seasons, all of which happened in the Steroid Era. Three of the players are known steroid abusers in Canseco, Rodriguez, and Bonds (Sorry Barry). The other, Alfonso Soriano, has taken a big dip in value since the league began to crack down on steroid use.
So far this season only Carlos Gonzalez and Joey Votto have hit at least 30 home runs and stolen 15 bases. Both players’ seasons have been considered MVP worthy. I’m not going out on a limb by predicting this will never happen again.
It’s events like this that have ruined the magic of spectacular baseball numbers. If somebody posts astronomical numbers now, we roll our eyes instead of appreciating greatness. Jose Bautista, a player nobody expected to perform at a high level, reached 50 home runs last night. If Bautista reached that total the honest way than hats off to an amazing performance this season.
Unfortunately, I just can not believe that he did this without the help of performance enhancing drugs. For years we were fools to think these numbers could naturally be reached year after year. I refuse to be fooled again, which prevents me from taking Bautista seriously.
I hope that Bautista can maintain his power over the nest few seasons. If he takes a slight dip over the next three years but still posts somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 HR’s, I’ll believe that this was simply a great year. If he falls off the face of the Earth or worse, hits more home runs, I will not accept him as an honest player regardless of drug tests.
It’s sad that this is the point of view an average baseball fan has, but it is the world we live in today.
Filed under: Magic Fanatic's Posts, MLB Tagged: | 40-40, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Barry Bonds, Jose Bautista, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey Jr.
