WOULD BABE RUTH HAD SURVIVED THE PEDs ERA?

Babe Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. That was the banner held up in the left field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on May 6, 2006, when Barry Bonds was only two home runs away from passing Babe Ruth on the all time list. While many identified with the boos and the taunting from the stands that day, there was something a little bothersome about the negative display of emotion. The fact is that the opinion expressed was (and is) based on two very basic assumptions. One was that Babe Ruth never cheated. The other is that Barry Bonds did.

The first assumption is a pretty safe bet, in terms of performance enhancing drugs. They simply didn’t exist in Ruth’s day. So that settles it – he’s in the clear, but only because of when he played. The second assumption, that Bonds cheated by using PEDs, was exactly that – an assumption. Remember that records which showed that he tested positive for PEDs weren’t unsealed until February 2009, well after that game, well after he broke Aaron’s record, and well after he retired. Up to that point, there was no hard evidence available to the general public to prove his guilt.

So how did we all know that he used? It was simply our God-given powers of observation, reasoning, and logical deduction. Many arguments were made about his increasing hat size, the change in his physique, muscle buildup, and the astounding increase in performance at an age when most other (non-cheating) athletes are in decline. So we all listened to the old adage that says if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Bonds must have cheated.

Now, back to Babe Ruth. Imagine a player coming up who, starting in his first full year of at-bats, is hitting the ball out of the park at an unprecedented clip. By age 26, he has 4 home run titles, having over 50 homers twice. He’s led the league in runs scored and runs batted in for 3 consecutive years, the most recent year he’s had more than 170 in each of those categories. Let’s pretend that this player’s name is not Babe Ruth. Let’s pretend that the year is not 1921, but rather 2013. Do you really believe that this kid isn’t juicing?

I’ve written about this before, but this is where I believe the tragedy of the PED scandal lies. Babe Ruth would never have been recognized for his accomplishments had he been playing in our day. Neither would any of our other heroes. It simply would have been too good to be true. Someone would have filed a report about his diet – burgers, beer, hot dogs, and the like. He was overweight for much of his career. Do you expect us to believe that this guy should be hitting 60 home runs in a 148-game season? He was an everyday player until his late 30’s. How can this guy even play every day without breaking down? There must be something “special” in his regimen. Our testing must not be advanced enough to catch it, but he must be cheating.

Personally, I long for the day when this scandal is in our rear view mirror. I long for the day when testing and penalties are severe enough that these drugs are eradicated. There is an entire generation of great baseball players, now playing and coming up, who should be recognized for their accomplishments, without any asterisks or footnotes, just like Babe Ruth is.


--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

The Bleeding Yankee Blue store is opened! CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING! Also, follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.