The 500-Homerun Club. Ever heard of it?

Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Manny Ramirez are all members of that prestigious fraternity. That is elite company. Like, ELITE company. Another thing they all have in common? None of them are in the Hall of Fame. And unless you’ve been living in an igloo on the far side of the Arctic Circle for the past 20 years, you probably know that’s a direct result of their connection to steroids. 

Professional athletes doping with PEDs shouldn’t have surprised any of us. These are highly competitive individuals, competing at the highest level, seeking to gain a competitive edge over their peers. Steroids simply allowed these men – who were already among the best in the game – to apply their already elite talent at an even higher level.

Regardless of the benefits of steroids, it still takes an exceptional level of natural, God-given ability to connect with a 95 mile-per-hour fastball. I could pump myself full of all the D-Ball and HGH known to man and it still wouldn’t be enough for me to sniff a single-A roster, much less hit over 700 home runs against the best pitching in the world. 

So why have the Barry Bonds and Mark McGwires of the steroid era been diminished to a collective pariah? It’s simple: they cheated the game.

That brings me to the point of this article, which is that the Houston Astros can go to hell. 

There are people who compare what the Astros did to the players who used steroids. Those people are wrong. Sure, steroids elevated the talent of those who used it. It took superstars and made them gods. BUT, taking steroids is an individual action, and we all know one man can’t win a World Series alone (re: Mike Trout).

The Astros organization had developed a system to know exactly what pitch was coming during live at bats, and it resulted in overwhelmingly positive results. For those of you who don’t understand the severity of that, imagine a defensive coordinator knowing the exact play an offense is calling every single down. Starting to get the picture?

This was not the actions of an individual. No, the most sinister part about the whole thing is that this was a collaborative effort occurring at an organizational level. Which only makes the lackadaisical “punishment” handed down by the league that much more laughable.

I mean seriously, what the hell Rob Manfred? Those slimy bastards cheated their way to a World Series title, and you let them off the hook with a fine and a few empty draft picks? That’s the equivalent to a child breaking your most precious family heirloom and punishing them by taking them to McDonalds instead of Chuck-E-Cheese. I’m going to have an aneurism just thinking about it.

To make matters worse, they aren’t even being forced to vacate their title. What does that say to the rest of the league? Hell, if all my Braves have to do is sacrifice a few draft picks and pay a relatively small fine to win a World Series then count me in. 

Speaking of the Braves, they were caught bending the rules of international free agency a couple years ago and what happened? Oh yeah, nothing serious except the GM John Coppolella got BANNED FOR LIFE. The guy was just trying to provide a better life for a few impoverished Latin American teenagers and he gets a lifetime ban for it. Does Rob Manfred just hate poor people? I’ll let you decide that for yourself. 

What’s not up for debate is that the Astros players deserve every profanity-laced tirade they are going to hear from opposing fans when baseball returns. Sure, they get to keep their title. Whatever. History will always remember them the same way history remembers Barry Bonds and every other player connected to steroids: as a cheater. They will be judged in the court of public opinion and punished accordingly. And I can’t wait.