600 Ain't What is Used to Be

Jim Thome is on the verge of a milestone that just seven major leaguers have reached: 600 home runs. That's far fewer than the number with 3,000 hits. But somehow the buzz in much lower than it was for Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit.

Jeter, of course, plays in New York for the Yankees, so that accounts for some of the difference. And after steroid era, it seems the value of home runs has diminished. I can remember the hoopla surrounding Hank Aaron's 500th, and Ernie Banks was widely saluted when he reached that mark for the Chicago Cubs.

But Thome's march to the plateau seems to be getting less notice. It's not hard to remember the home run chase put on by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. Every at-bat was a media event. Batting practice by the sluggers was watches as intently as a World Series game.

After the bubble burst on that era, the numbers seemed more like pinball than baseball. After all, until the steroid era, only Aaron, Ruth and Mays had crossed the 600 barrier. The club will soon have eight members.

Unfortunately, the effect of the steroids era has been to tarnish even those might have never used the substances. Jeter has managed to keep a clean image, and, by all accounts, Thome name has never been associated with the scandal.

Still, for me, and I suspect many others, the distrust has been planted. I love the game, but any sense of innocence about the players has been lost. For me, now, it's hard to take the breaking of these records too seriously.

Clemens Gets a Reprieve

The trial of Roger Clemens on Thursday was shut down by the judge after just two days. And like the entire steroid era, the mistrial leaves us with more questions than answers.

I am not surprised that the trial of Clemens didn't go well, although I didn't expect prosecutors to present evidence that had been ruled inadmissible. That's a hard one to understand, no matter how much pressure they felt to get a conviction.

I doubt we'll ever know haw many players used steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. Nor do I think any players will ever be convicted of any crimes. And I doubt we'll ever really know how much management at the top levels of MLB discussed the problem even as they denied there was one.

I suppose they will try Clemens again, but with the all the long drawn out hearings and trial delays, the public cares less and less. It seems everyone in baseball -- fans, players, management -- wants to pretend it never happened.

Even mentioning the possibility that current players could still be using PEDs draws hoots from readers. Unfortunately, I think athletes in all sports are still looking for an edge. And with all the stories that have been written about the drug labs working to beat the testers, it's hard to believe that it all of it has stopped.

I guess that's the way these things go. Fans want to enjoy the game and not have it sullied by stories of bad conduct by players. That's why the first line of attack by fans and players is to blame the messenger, be it he media or Jose Canseco.

It's the baseball version of don't ask, don't tell. And we all know how well that policy worked.