I love baseball, and I always have. I played the game for 8 years, but the people I was to play with outweighed my drive to play, sadly. Yet, now that I'm out of high school, I wish to continue playing the game. Yet, earlier today I read the names on the Mitchell Report regarding players who use steroids. Yet, the thing that bothers me most about it is that it's stuff that any avid fan already knew. I mean what's the real relevance of it? None really. Nothing is going to be done to combat steroid usage. It's alot more entertaining to fans nowadays to watch people like Barry Bonds beat the crap out of a baseball and the resulting catfights for it, instead of the tribulations teams must push through to be victorious. Baseball is mutating into a very unpleasant and tedious thing to watch. I mean there were days where if your team didn't win, it was alright, just the for the fact you got the chance to escape from the world was enough. It's a game that moves at its own pace, a game that's not over until the last out is made. Nowadays they've brought what started out as the sport of a fledgling nation that grew and suffered with its people, and brought it into the real world, burdening the game and its fans with trite and stupid problems.

Countless media and commercial conglomerates have instigated the idea that we can only be driven to love the game by oggling at the big names and their ability to crush old records and the spirits of struggling pitchers and wincing batters. That's what sells seats and overpriced hotdogs, 500 ft. homeruns and pitchers throwing no less than 12 Ks. One of the biggest draws of baseball for me is watching the battle between the two teams, and for the game to be able to change in an instant.

I live in Warren, Ohio. here, it's almost entirely Indians fans, with trace amounts of Pirates fans on account of they're a tw- hour drive away. Yet, the majority of kids my age that I see carousing the malls and hangouts are donning Yankees caps. And why is that? Because, they're the epitome of greatness. Now, I like any other educated baseball fan realizes that they are indeed worthy of their titles,with the plethora of incredible players, but it seems that in my time things have only gotten worse. The Yankees have the highest payroll in the MLB, seeing that Steinbrenner buys any promising and talented athletes that come by. They've won 4 titles in the past ten years, which has resulted in many teams hating them. The Boston Red Sox fans seem to be the most vehement about their hatred towards them. My friend Mike owns a "Yankees Suck" shirt that he bought at Fenway, and has been an avid fan of the Sox for nearly ten years. "It takes alot of the enjoyment out of the game, it's discouraging to see a completely stacked team. It doesn't give any other team a chance, really." Yet, as i thought afterwards, it's soooooooooo good to see them lose.

I believe that with all of the Yankee apparel in stores across the country, this reflects the fact that we are to be captivated more by overwhelming and insurmountable strength than by sheer heart and will of other teams.

To conclude this rant, I must say that I think the essence of what baseball is has been lost. The pressures on players to use steroids is upsetting, for before the days of steroid useage, baseball's greatest players were remembered as much for their individual philosophies for the game as the numbers they put up. Yet, to some degree the players must take responsibility for their actions and be willing to fess up to the fact that they've had unatural help, and that any records they break should be considered nullified.

And so as countless, disgruntled fans put it in so many infamous, yet hilarious banners, "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer, Aaron did it with cl*ss."