Honesty may just be the best policy

Well after listening to Alex Rodriguez talk to Peter Gammons for 40 minutes, I stand somewhat amazed. This is the first player of prominence--yes I'm ignoring Andy Pettite--who has come out with utter honesty WITHOUT a.) blaming trainers, doctors, nutrionists, etc for giving them steroids b.) throwing other people under the bus and using their guilt as an excuse to point the finger at other people and c.) actually being honest. As a baseball fan, I have been nothing short of disgusted about the state of baseball and the 'roid era. I'm disgusted that some of the greatest records in the history of this game have fallen into the hands of those who only got them by pumping their bodies full of drugs, but what I've been even more disgusted with is the lack of honesty and openness, once steroids were declared illegal. A-Rod has a point that 6 years ago pre-Bonds, pre-BALCO, pre-Mitchell Report the idea of "banned substances" was not what it is today, the lines were blurred, and he's right some of these products were on your average GNC shelf. I'm not saying this excuses him, however, I must say I astounded myself by actually believing him in his interview. He seemed to express genuine honesty, regret, and rehabilitation. It was almost refreshing after watching Barry Bonds for the past 2 years swear left, right, and sideways that he was clean, while the entire world knew he wasn't. Not when one can pick up his baseball cards from his Pirate days and he was all of a skinny 225lbs, and now he's a hulking behemoth of a man. I was actually impressed by A-Rod's regulation of his weight and it does almost speak to his creditability that he hasn't bulked up or displayed disproportionate weight gains/losses, so indicative of 'roid usage. Now I'm not saying that this interview excuses him, but what I must say is that if he is telling the truth--and that will be purely subjective because we have no way of knowing--I think there are ways to move beyond this, and ways that A-Rod could see his name hanging in Cooperstown in 15 years. If he only used from '01-'03, then MLB should remove those numbers from his records, seriously. Take those out of the equation--that way he will probably never touch Hank Aaron's record--yes Hank Aaron's record that is not Barry Bonds' record, and we may be voting on his HOF eligibility based on his "pure" numbers. ESPN and SI will get off on analyzing this interview for weeks, or until another of the 103 remaining names pops up, but for now, I may be siding on the side of trust. That doesn't mean I respect A-Rod, but I don't think I will be falling into the realm of those always distrustful of his numbers for the next 9 years of his career, but we'll see...honesty is always subjective.