Baseball...number 1

I'm Matt, and you can find me here. I created this blog first and foremost to just write. I don't do it enough, so I'm giving it a shot.

Also, I'll be going on a trip up and down the east coast to a handfull of ballparks in August, both major and minor league, and I want to keep my friends and family informed on what's going on.

I titled this post "baseball" because I wanted to tell everyone why I'll be keeping this blog this summer. When my girlfriend, Michelle, saw this, she waned to know why I'm titling it "Baseball," even though I'm technically not even on our trip yet.

Well here's why.

Baseball IS America's sport, before football, basketball, soccer, tennis, hockey, batmitton, pingpong, beerpong, quarters, and thumper (all though the last 3 are sinfully fun.) Anyone who watches sports center or their local news sports update will undoubtedly know the current status of the game, which is shamefully in a gutter along with the American economy.

The power-king idols of my childhood--McGwire, Sosa, Palmiero, and even Manny F-ing Ramirez, have all fallen from starhood to roided-up scum with artificial numbers, and while the truth is undeniable, it is still sad. It's wicked sad. We have all heard the commentary, and I'm not going to provide any original thought on this issue. And while I maintain that baseball is and always will be America's sport, it needs to fix its internal issues before taking back it's throne atop public opinion. I say this, and I'm guesssing it's already being done.

But we can never be sure. The only way we can be sure is when we look back 20 years from now and evaluate the decisions made by MLB, the teams, the owners, players and trainers, and most importantly, Mr. A-Hole himself: former MLBPA director Donald Fehr.

With Fehr's retirement, maybe we can finally begin writing the "afterward" chapter of the steroid era and put the story out in the pasture with the dead ball era. Unfortunately, I feel that more big names will fall from the 101 remaining names on that dark list, the same one that exposed Sosa and A-Rod. Until that passes, the Steroid Era will remain in the dimming spotlight of today's game, the same game that former greats of the "Golden Age" watch with the same questions as the fans.

So, why did I title this post "Baseball?" Ask Michelle, because she just watched me type this whole thing.