Chris Davis is doing something remarkable on the baseball diamond. His 37 home runs at the All-Star Break is something baseball has only seen three other times and yet it is not a feat that's being greeted with fanfare like it should be. That's not Davis' fault. He is a victim of other players' past mistakes with steroids and those players, namely Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, have made baseball fans skeptical of any man who dares challenge the great Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.It's easy to be especially skeptical of Davis. This is not Miguel Cabrera or Albert Pujols. Davis was far from a star, let alone a superstar, before the 2013 season began. He's 27 years old and is in his sixth year in the MLB. His previous season high in home runs was 33 last year and in 2011 and 2012 he hit just six combined. Still, there were signs that he could be something special. He hit 21 homers when he was just 23 years old, but bounced back and forth between the bigs and the minors in the next few years.
Davis has calmly denied using steroids and understands the suspicions. He has a good answer for every question thrown his way and says he changed various things in his swing, which have helped him improve. He's passed all three drug tests this season for what it's worth, and that's not much. He has also said that 61 is still the record and, right now, it seems likely that he could challenge that mark.
But will he? He has 37 home runs at the break. The only other players to accomplish that mark were Bonds, McGwire and Reggie Jackson. Bonds and McGwire were steroid users and Jackson fizzled out and finished the year with just 47. Davis is also a participant in tonight's Home Run Derby. It's hard to say if that will affect his swing during the second half of the season, but it has ruined hitters before.
Let's say he does challenge the 61 mark. How will he be treated? Will fans cheer him or boo him? Will it even be a big deal to many of us? The rampant steroid use has almost made the home run lose some of its luster. Rather than cheer for the guy, we would rather be indifferent or skeptical because that way, if he's found to have used PEDs later on, we aren't let down.
Still, Davis has said all the right things, passed the tests and is having a fantastic season. It's worth the watch to see how he finishes the year and, whether he breaks the record or not, keep our fingers crossed that five years down the road we don't see his name pop up in a report of steroid users. If he does it wouldn't be the first time a home run hitter let us down...or the second...or the third.
