Barry Bonds

Hank Aaron was recently at the US Open to receive the U.S. Tennis Association’s “Breaking the Barriers” award.

While there he was asked about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and the steroid era in baseball as a whole.

Aaron was able to sum up his thoughts in a single word:

The New York Giants were established in 1883. In 1958 the club moved out west, becoming who they are today - the San Francisco Giants.

Along the way, there have been many fun players, many great players. Some players we hated, and loved to boo and heckle. Many players stuck around for a season or two at best, while others played their entire career for the Giants.

Who is your favorite Giants player?

Giants' fans everywhere have their own opinion about how they would rank their favorite players.

The Steroid Era has officially left its mark in professional sports while tarnishing the reputation of America's pastime.

With the recent indictment of legendary hurler Roger Clemens, the next generation will be very confused about which players to look up to.

Players like Roger Clemens have forced parents to lie to their Little Leaguers and young baseball stars by telling them their favorite players are stand-up citizens.

The Steroid Era has been around pretty much since the early nineties, a span of about nearly 20 years. With a grueling 162 game regular season plus postseason play, it adds up to playing nearly 200 baseball games if you want to go ahead and count Spring Training. 

Oh, Roger.

Love him or hate him, the news that Roger Clemens is being (it is hard to even type it out) indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs is down-right depressing.

There was a time when the baseball viewing public was being forced to ask themselves:

"Could Roger Clemens be ready to surpass Walter Johnson as the greatest pitcher of all time?"

Former pitching great Roger Clemens has been indicted by a grand jury for lying under oath and not admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

But Clemens, if guilty, would certainly not be the only baseball player to present false truths to the public. The fact that it was done while under oath during grand jury testimony is what makes it so reprehensible and a potential crime, but still, that doesn't make the other nine of these lies any less damaging.

The San Francisco Giants were in New York—not to face New York's most beloved team, as they usually did, but to face the New York Yankees on the weekend of June 7, 2002.

The visit marked the first time in 40 years that the Giants had returned to Yankee Stadium, but it seemed as if time stood still when the Yankees won the Friday night game, 2-1, in front of 55,053 fans.

Barry Bonds changed that the next day when he faced Yankees left-hander Ted Lilly in the first inning.

In the aftermath of Alex Rodriguez's 600th home run, many have downplayed his milestone because of his admitted usage of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), and have compared him to another user, the current home run king, Barry Bonds. 

I want you to ask yourself this, what Major League Baseball players deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Does Pete Rose deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? How about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, or Roger Clemens? Maybe even one day New York Yankess third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is on the eve of hitting home run No. 600?

While watching Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson give his speech after his induction into Cooperstown on Sunday, he said some things that struck a chord with me and became the inspiration for this article.

In the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will be starting in his first ever All-Star Game. For Ethier, just being selected is, no doubt, a thrill, and being chosen as a starter probably doubles his excitement.

Perhaps Andre Ethier will one day be on this list of the players who have the most All-Star Game starts, by position, in National League history.

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