Dear Major League Baseball...

Evelyn factoid of the day: I'm currently enrolled in a class called "Creative Writing Workshop Studio" this semester.

For those who don't know, the University of Iowa has probably the most well-known, if not prestigious graduate writing program (aka The Iowa Writers' Workshop) in the country. With that said -- why wouldn't I want to take advantage and try to improve my overall writing skills?

A couple of weeks in and I've already learned that my TA, Hannah generally likes and appreciates comedy and wit in our writing (hence having us read an 800-page George Carlin anthology book). Last class, I even wrote a piece entitled "Guys It Never Worked Out With..." and tried to throw in some witty tiny penis jokes. It's really an anything-goes-that-is-on-your-mind type of class with the one rule we cannot offend our fellow classmates. Basically, one of the better classes I've ever signed up for.

Anyway, for one of our most recent assignments we had to write a personal narrative on a public issue. The hardest decision I had to make for the paper was deciding what topic to pick. Politics? Boring. Religion? Not my thing. Abortion? How could I NOT offend someone? So, I picked something I was familiar with and actually cared about. I chose to write about the issue of performance enhancing drugs and it's effect on baseball. I tried to find my inner Carlin but I just didn't think I could pull it off. Instead, I went with a different approach. This assignment only had to be 2-3 pages long and contain some writing elements and include moments of introspection or reflection.

After getting my peer reviewed papers back, I was really relieved to know that most of the people in class (ironically there are about 16 guys and 3 other girls) seemed to really enjoy it. I figured since I've already written it, if my non-sports classmates can find some enjoyment in it, maybe people who read my blog can as well. So here it goes:

A thank you to Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, and Manny Ramirez, for these fine gentlemen – whom get paid millions upon millions of dollars to play a sport they love – have undoubtedly helped change the way the game of baseball has been portrayed. Years ago, baseball used to be known as “America’s pastime;” it used to be looked upon fondly but not anymore. The problem of steroids, drug usage and any other methods of trying to get ahead unfairly has tainted the sport. With Congress getting involved and a new star player being exposed seemingly every few months, how much more can a sports fan be asked to take?

Perhaps before I get too far ahead of myself, I should start at the beginning. The most important thing to understand is this: growing up in Massachusetts, the Red Sox aren’t just a professional sports team; they are practically a religion. As a fellow classmate (Seth) perhaps said it best, “Christians have Jesus; Muslims have Allah; I have the Boston Red Sox.” Even before winning the 2004 World Series (and ending an 86-year championship drought), I knew it was pretty much love. Going back to that fateful day I caught a Red Sox baseball game on television, I’ve been a fan ever since.

When I started to follow professional baseball around the age of 12 or 13, the issue of steroids and illegal drugs hardly ever seemed to be brought up. Then again, I was still a kid. How I viewed the world in comparison to what was really happening around me was bound to be different. As I got older, things changed. Now at 21, I can’t believe how far the sport has fallen. Names like the aforementioned Sosa, Rodriguez, and Ramirez (all big name, star players for their respective teams) have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs (PED) and the list only seems to grow as time goes on.

A few months ago, it was revealed that the Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz had supposedly tested positively for PEDs in 2003. It was one of my more disheartening moments as a sports fan. Suddenly this player who had become so popular with Boston fans as well as with the organization was exposed as a cheater. Sure it was funny to laugh at Rodriguez because he was the enemy, the bad guy playing for the New York Yankees. He deserved all the crap he got. But with Ortiz, it was supposed to be different. He had a larger-than-life personality and a power swing that matched it. One of Boston’s most beloved players had a positive test for steroids… six years ago

My range of emotions went from being shocked, to sadness, to a little bit of confusion. Maybe to everyone else it was obvious that Ortiz could have been a player who was “on something,” but to me it didn’t seem possible. Seeing his name in bold on ESPN’s website with “Breaking News” and “Tests Positive” wasn’t an easy sight. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt bad for Ortiz. He genuinely seemed like such a great guy, the player all players wanted to be friends with, an actual caring soul despite the millions of dollars he made. Suddenly with these new allegations – it was all flushed away in a split second. Who was David Ortiz if he wasn’t who everyone thought he was? I knew Boston would still continue to support him but why? We were all hypocrites in the end, I guess.

With players becoming bigger, faster, and stronger, the hardest thing for a fan is to know is who to trust. Baseball isn’t a complicated game, but with so much temptation to cheat, fans clearly have a right to be angry and distance themselves. It’s quite obvious that steroids and other types of drugs are ruining the sport. I don’t blame people for turning away from baseball onto other sports. There’s a reason why football is now referred to as “American’s pastime” (although I’m not sure I really buy that).

So here’s my final plea: baseball, please listen to whatever fans you still have left, don’t let this ruin you. Clean up your game and fans will come back. Don’t let this get any worse than it already has.

*Photo from www.mysportsrumors.com