Big Mac's special sauce

So, as many of you may already be aware of, Mark McGwire admitted that for ten years he used steroids, including the summer of 1998 when both he and Sammy Sosa captured the hearts of the America with their epic home run race. If you are surprised at all by this "revelation" then either A.) you are the antithesis of a baseball fan or B.) you have never seen a picture of the Mac Attack before 1990. In the so called Steroids Era if Mark McGwire isn't the cover boy then he's certainly in the pantheon with Barry and Sammy.
Now that we can look back on those years of overblown forearms and larger then life hat sizes people will shun those players who cheated and say shame shame. There is no doubt that these players tarnished the games record books, left question marks (no pun intended) on hall of fame votes and created a black eye on the "National Past time." As a baseball purist who grew up spending every sunny day playing the game and every snowy day practicing it in a field house, I can comfortably say that I know the game. I hate what steroids created. Yes, a 10-9 game is exciting but I'd much prefer a 3-2 game with great pitching and defense. Steroids or no steroids, offensive explosions will not win championships alone, just ask the mid-90s Cleveland Indians.

With that being said, I cannot say steroids ruined baseball or my love for it. In fact, it can be argued that they may have saved the game. If you take a moment to think about the summer of 1998 you may start to agree with me. Prior to that year baseball was in a rut. Still reeling from the strike of 1994 (mark my words it would've been a Cleveland-Montreal series) the league NEEDED something to boost interest and fill the seats. Mark and Sammy gave the league and the country that something. Despite all of the issues that steroids created in the last few years, they led to a summer and fall where every baseball fan will look back on and be forced to remember. Every night it was intriguing to see who would leave the yard and which player could catch Maris first.
To this day I can remember where I was when McGwire barely pulled a ball over the left field fence and was so excited rounding the bases that he initially missed first base. My parents family room, tongue burning from the far too hot Donato's mushroom pizza. I'll never forget that. Same goes for Bonds when he broke Aaron's record. The Pourhouse, little beer in hand. Yes I hate him and everything he stands for and to an extent the same goes for Big Mac but I will always remember getting chills watching both players celebrate as they jogged towards home plate, crowd on their feet in jubilation.
Love them or hate them but it was impossible to be apathetic towards these moments and truthfully, steroids created what baseball needed; A buzz. In the end, steroids will be nothing but a word said when discussing the olden times years from now. Much like the dead ball era, steroids will take it's place and never be forgotten and the same goes for the home runs they led to. The only real loser may be Cooperstown and the players who used the steroids themselves, for they may get to be immortalized in bronze there.