Can Hope Spring Through Scandal?

Posted Feb 10, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Apr 17, 2009 at 08:15 PM

In the spring of 1999, he was a spindly Seattle shortstop with a goofy grace, possessor of the sweetest swing in a lineup featuring some of the game’s sweetest swingers like Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez.

Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be baseball’s golden child, ready to erase Barry Bonds from the collective subconscious of the game.

Ten years later, he is the biggest hack since Jay Buhner’s haircut.

A-Rod is a fraud. He cheated. The testicular atrophy wasn’t just a phenomenon confined to the postseason.

Want to know the impact that steroid use can have on a player’s stats? It has quantifiable proof now. During A-Rod’s admitted steroid period he averaged 52 homeruns and a .615 slugging percentage a season. The years he was allegedly clean, he averaged 39.2 homers and a .574 slugging percentage.

So as we prepare for the reporting of pitchers and catchers next week, the story is no longer about possibilities for position battles, or the sure-to-be-had free agent bargains. The big question is: who are the other 103 players on that list of failed drug tests?