New Home Run Race Could Save Baseball

Although the season is still early, Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres is on a home run pace of surpassing Roger Maris' record of 61. even though that sacrid record has been surpassed several time in the last decade by player like Barry Bond, who currently hold the record at 73, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, these players have been the center of controversy with possible use of steroids, HGH, and other perfomance enhancing drugs.

This season alone has already seen superstar players like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez be labeled with association to performance enhancing drugs. The game has been greatly scarred with the lack of strict sanctions against the use of these performance enhancing suppliments, although penalties are getting heaftier.

If Adrian Gonzalez continues on his track to challenge the home run record, we will start to see more questions about his potential use. It is unfortunate that any player that makes some challenge at a record, now-a-days, has to be associated with the problem, but it is something that must be done until there is confidence that testing is effective and the penalties are harsh. 

Right now, baseball could use a guy like Gonzalez to challenge the record and ideally beat the 73. Adrian is well liked by the players and Padres fans are all over this slugger. Adrian is a genuine good guy that will get tangled into the web of performance enhancement, but if he can come out unscaved he could be the Savior from San Diego, the man that turns baseball around.