Finally, a player from the next generation of baseball stars has stepped to the plate and taken a stand against PED users ruining the game of baseball. Angels outfielder Mike Trout gave his opinion during an interview on New York radio station WFAN: “To me, personally, I think you should be out of the game if you get caught.”
This is huge for the sport. Having someone who is considered one of the best young players in the game step up and show that there really are players in each locker room who are tired of the stigma surrounding the steroid era; it gives the sport hope. It seems like every year more players end up being exposed as users. This year alone, superstars Ryan Braun and multiple-offender Alex Rodriguez helped blacken baseball’s eye even further.
Trout went on to say, “It takes away from the guys that are working hard every day and doing it all-natural.” The 22-year-old stud is batting .330 with 20 home runs, 73 RBI and 26 stolen bases. His numbers would have won him and AL MVP last year, and most likely this season, if not for the presence of Miguel Cabrera. He is not only the future of baseball, he is the present, too.
Trout’s teammate Josh Hamilton went on to speak about how most players in the locker room want an even playing field and would like to put all of the steroid nonsense behind them. It goes without saying the fans feel the same way.
A sport that is supposed to elicit innocent childhood memories has become filthier then a tabloid newspaper. It’s painful to see stars at the beginning of SportsCenter confess their mistakes or, even worse, deny them, only to be revealed as liars and cheaters a week, month or year later. The way Braun so calmly deflected his guilt and went to the extent he did to prove his innocence was amazing. He convinced many people, including me, that he was not a user. He duped everyone, and I will never believe players when they say they did not use when there is evidence that they have.
Seeing Trout speak out brought hope to a gloomy situation that seems like it’s never going to end. He projected a refreshing view of the other side of baseball, one where players are just as fed up with the bad press as the fans are. It showed that players actually care and that there are good guys in the sport.
Mike Trout may have done a lot by saying a little. He may have made himself the spokesperson for the next generation of baseball, and, to be honest, I am completely fine with that.
