{"id":4630,"date":"2010-04-27T12:08:06","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T19:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=4630"},"modified":"2010-04-27T12:08:06","modified_gmt":"2010-04-27T19:08:06","slug":"ode-to-the-roid-bums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/27\/ode-to-the-roid-bums\/","title":{"rendered":"Ode To The &#8216;Roid Bums"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was back in the 90&#8217;s when Fay V. was  &#8220;commish,&#8221;<br \/>\nA clean game of baseball was his ultimate wish.<br \/>\nHe saw  the potential for the game to go bad,<br \/>\nHe warned of expulsion for the  drug-using lad.<br \/>\nA few years would pass and the long balls were  flying,<br \/>\nAs the skeptics and purists were secretly crying.<br \/>\nSammy  and Mark were among the league leaders,<br \/>\nSome like yours truly just  surmised they were cheaters.<br \/>\nA guy nicknamed &#8220;Cammy&#8221; gave SI bad  news,<br \/>\nHe claimed he took drugs that were stronger than booze.<br \/>\n&#8220;Steroids  are rampant,&#8221; said Ken Caminiti,<br \/>\nHe later would die on the streets  of the city.<br \/>\nAnd then there was Barry with his monstrous home runs,<br \/>\nHis  head had grown bigger&#8211;as well as his &#8220;guns.&#8221;<br \/>\nIn 2001, Bonds  re-wrote history,<br \/>\nHe didn&#8217;t hit 60&#8211;he hit SEVENTY-THREE!<br \/>\nHe&#8217;d  pick a good pitch and proceed to uncoil,<br \/>\nHe denied steroid use&#8211;it  was pure flaxseed oil!<br \/>\nHe&#8217;d pass Henry Aaron and his numbers turned  heads,<br \/>\nHe became such a villain&#8211;did he lie to the &#8220;feds?&#8221;<br \/>\nHe may  do hard time&#8211;yes, he&#8217;ll no longer play,<br \/>\nPerhaps Bonds will share a  small cell with O.J.<br \/>\nA man named &#8220;The Rocket&#8221; got better with age,<br \/>\nHe  was mean to Piazza&#8211;a sign of &#8216;roid rage!<br \/>\nIt was Roger and Brian and  tons of denials,<br \/>\nNeedles, syringes, some gauze pads and vials.<br \/>\nMcNamee  spoke&#8211;did he fear for his life?<br \/>\nHe said he &#8220;shot&#8221; Roger&#8211;as well as  his wife!<br \/>\nAnd then there was Pettitte&#8211;said he used it just ONCE,<br \/>\nTruthfully,  Andy, do you think I&#8217;m a dunce?<br \/>\nMcGwire and Sosa&#8211;yes, they went to  D.C.,<br \/>\nThey came off as weasels&#8211;as clear as can be.<br \/>\nAnd Mr.  Canseco&#8211;he was called &#8220;way off base,&#8221;<br \/>\nHe said steroid use was all  over the place!<br \/>\nRidiculed, bad-mouthed, Jose took it all,<br \/>\nAs  players got bigger and records would fall.<br \/>\nExcuses, excuses&#8211;and man,  are they lame,<br \/>\nIn upstate New York should be a new Hall of Shame.<br \/>\nIt  was A-ROD and Sheffield, Giambi and Pettitte,<br \/>\nThe Yankees were  dirty&#8211;but some fans forget it.<br \/>\nAnd Torre knew nothing&#8211;put his head  in the sand,<br \/>\nWhile guys did more drugs than an 80&#8217;s rock band.<br \/>\nAnd  now we hear A-ROD was ingesting the &#8220;dope,&#8221;<br \/>\nThis stuff&#8217;s more  bizarre than a CBS soap.<br \/>\nWhen A-ROD&#8217;s at-bat, we all should yell  &#8220;Fraud!&#8221;<br \/>\nAnd then turn the channel&#8211;perhaps a rerun of &#8220;Maude.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Advanced  training methods&#8221; was always their &#8220;shtick,&#8221;<br \/>\nSome should do time  just like one Michael Vick.<br \/>\nThe owners are guilty&#8211;as is head honcho  Bud,<br \/>\nFor knowing these players had &#8220;juice&#8221; in their blood.<br \/>\nThe  fans are still watching&#8211;still applauding these bums,<br \/>\nWith me, I see  homers&#8211;then reach for the Tums.<br \/>\nThe union&#8217;s pure evil and condones  criminal acts,<br \/>\nTo them it&#8217;s &#8217;bout MONEY&#8211;to hell with the facts.<br \/>\nDon&#8217;t  worry, just cheat&#8211;that&#8217;s the message they send,<br \/>\nYou CAN break the  rules&#8211;it&#8217;s a means to an end.<br \/>\nMr. Fehr, Mr. Orza&#8211;when  you&#8217;re\u00c2\u00a0weren&#8217;t at a meeting,<br \/>\nDo you secretly scheme to find NEW ways  of cheating?<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s &#8217;bout gaining an edge&#8211;yes, regardless of rules,<br \/>\nIf  there&#8217;s money to be made, the union just drools.<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll soon see these  players as they walk to the plate,<br \/>\nAnd I&#8217;ll think about scandals  like the famed &#8216;Watergate.&#8217;<br \/>\nThese guys have grown bigger&#8211;and sign  contracts with glee,<br \/>\nIt reminds me of storylines from the WWE.<br \/>\nThey&#8217;re  cheaters and liars&#8211;they ALL should be busted,<br \/>\nAnd meanwhile us ball  fans become more disgusted.<br \/>\nThey&#8217;ll take HGH and then tell us  they&#8217;re clean,<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s no longer &#8220;baseball&#8221;&#8211;do you know what I mean?<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll  still recognize all those homers by Aaron,<br \/>\nAs these idiots keep  cheating while truly not carin&#8217;.<br \/>\nI long for the old days when the  players had GUTS,<br \/>\nThey didn&#8217;t take short cuts&#8211;or put needles in  butts.<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll focus on great ones&#8211;yes, players like Mays,<br \/>\nWho  didn&#8217;t shoot up but made excellent plays.<br \/>\nI know that us sports  writers&#8211;we sometimes get wordy,<br \/>\nEven more so when talking &#8217;bout men  who are dirty.<br \/>\nAnd now as I close I will offer you this,<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s  become such a &#8220;freak show&#8221;&#8211;it&#8217;s BASEBALL that I miss.<\/p>\n<div><em>Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for both          Connecticut\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/em><em>Valley  Times<\/em> and <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nysportsday.com\/\">NY Sports Day<\/a>,  where his          \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sports Roundup\u00e2\u20ac\u009d column is featured weekly. He is a member of  the          Connecticut Sports Writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Alliance and host of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<a href=\"http:\/\/mondaynightsports.net\/\">Monday Night Sports Talk<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a        cable television show on CTV\/Channel 14 in Connecticut.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was back in the 90&#8217;s when Fay V. was &#8220;commish,&#8221; A clean game of baseball was his ultimate wish. He saw the potential for the game to go bad, He warned of expulsion for the drug-using lad. A few years would pass and the long balls were flying, As the skeptics and purists were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1915,3130,6659,6655,6652,6651,6665,6653,6657,617,6654,6662,6664,6661,6667,6658,6660,6656,6666,6663],"class_list":["post-4630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-bums","tag-denials","tag-dunce","tag-excuses-excuses","tag-flaxseed-oil","tag-gauze-pads","tag-giambi","tag-hall-of-shame","tag-head-in-the-sand","tag-henry-aaron","tag-ken-caminiti","tag-league-leaders","tag-mcgwire","tag-mcnamee","tag-purists","tag-seventy-three","tag-steroid-use","tag-streets-of-the-city","tag-vials","tag-weasels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}