What a couple of days for Major League Baseball and its All Stars! First off, the great Josh Hamilton endeared fans nationwide with his terrific story of overcoming addiction to drugs and alcohol to end up blasting 28 homers in ROUND 1 of the Home Run Derby. Then we're treated to one of the greatest All Star Games ever, with the AL winning in the bottom of the 15th on a sac fly that ended with Minnesota Twin Justin Morneau sliding beneath the tag of NL catcher Brian Mcanns. No better to end a classic game that lasted over 4 hours.
As I watched both events unfold Monday and Tuesday night, I couldn't help but think how far the sport has come in the past year. It seems like ages ago that Barry Bonds homered in San Francisco to pass Hank Aaron as the Home Run King. Roger Clemens' ongoing saga with steriods and Brian McNamee has drifted off into the world of "who cares". It appears that MLB and its fans may have finally turned the corner on the embarrassment that was the steriod era. The stars in New York this weekend were young, hungry, and upstart players, unlittered by performance enhancers and filled with enthusiasm for the game they are blessed to play. If MLB can continue this trend and push its fresh face on fans through October, it wouldn't be crazy to guess that media and fans alike will soon forget the blemishes Bud Selig and the rest of MLB slapped onto America's pasttime over the last decade.
I, for one, would be ecstatic.
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