Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial in Roger Clemens federal perjury case on Thursday afternoon. A hearing will be held on September 2^nd to determine whether or not the case should be restarted or dropped altogether. For now, Roger Clemens is a free man, but should this case ever have gotten this far?

Perjury is indeed a punishable offense and shouldn’t be overlooked at all, however this case is about steroids. The topic of steroids in baseball is one that has caused a giant rift among fans of the sport. What do we do with the records from the “steroid era?” Should players that have used performance enhancing drugs be allowed into Cooperstown?

Questions like these certainly are ones that need to be answered, but is it really necessary to spend so much effort, time, and taxpayers money in order to bring these men up on charges? Will that really give us the answers we’re looking for? Do Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds really deserve to face jail time for breaking the rules? Maybe this whole situation has gone down the wrong road.

For arguments sake let’s assume Clemens will not be brought back into the courtroom. His legacy remains somewhat in tact, but these questions certainly remain.

Is the all time postseason wins leader, Andy Pettitte really not going to get into the hall of fame either? When Alex Rodriguez closes his iconic career, will he not be immortalized with a plaque in upstate New York? Is it feasible to have the all time home run king not in the hall? Maybe it is, seeing as how the all-time hits leader isn’t there either.

It’s a sad time for hall of fame nominations. Voters will constantly have to wrestle with the idea that some of the players did it “the wrong way.” Any good player from the 90′s through the 2000′s will have a giant question mark above their heads.

There is one day in the near future that will summarize everything that is hated about this era, the darkest example. Every fan should dread this day for what they will have to hear.

In a couple of years Ken Griffey Jr. will be put on his first ballot. It had been thought that “the kid” could be the first ever unanimous hall of fame choice in the games history. Everyone knew he had the talent and the charisma. He brought new meaning to fan favorite. Nobody hated Griffey the way they did Bonds. Everyone knew he did it the right way. Unfortunately the media will undoubtedly grab hold of the ugly question “did he do it too?”

Bud Selig has done a fine job in fixing the problem on the field. Regular tests are given, heavy suspensions and fines have struck fear into players that think about using PED’s these days, and yet fans are still forced to worry about how the past will effect the future.

A proposition for Cooperstown: treat this time as just another era. The “dead ball” era, the “live ball” era, the integration era, the free-agent era, the steroid era. Why should one of these be singled out?

There are countless players from all different times that are in the hall, and these players should not be victims of a calendar, punished merely for the time they played in and what happened during that time.

If fans are really so up in arms about it, put a little sign under Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds name that says “steroid era” on it. Heck, create a whole wing in Cooperstown just for these guys. What’s the difference?

The hall of fame is a place for fans of the game to go and relive times past. Learn about what happened in the game before their time. The greatest players can be enshrined forever in glory. It is of course a sacred place, but it is silly and naive to think that great players of the past weren’t using drugs or putting pine tar on their bats, yet they are not persecuted.

The point is, there is time to fix this flaw, the powers that be just need to admit that there is something wrong and that it should be addressed.

Nobody is forcing anyone else to like these players. If someone has a personal vendetta against Roger Clemens and the countless others for not playing the way they would have hoped, then so be it. That certainly does not mean that they were not fantastic baseball players.

The time is over, we can all move on, but we don’t have to forget. In 50 years, this will merely be a notch on the timeline of America’s greatest past time. Don’t let it be ruined by a silly needle.

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Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, with help from his dad, hit a record twelve home runs in the final round of the 2011 MLB Home Run Derby to take home the trophy in his first ever derby appearance.

The MLB couldn’t write a script any better than what happened at Chase Field Monday night. In the most sentimental part of the contest, Cano chose his father, former major league pitcher Jose Cano to pitch to him in the derby.

The MLB chose a different approach in choosing the competitors in 2011. They named the past two years champions, David Ortiz in 2010 and Prince Fielder in 2009 as the captains of their respective leagues. Each of them were able to hand pick three other members from their league to join them in the derby. Ortiz went with an all AL East roster of Jose Bautista, Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez while Fielder chose his teammate Rickie Weeks along with Matt Kemp and Matt Holliday.

The American League roster seemed to be a bit more impressive than the National League from the get-go, and proved to be just that after the bats began to swing.

Adrian Gonzalez is the runaway favorite halfway through the season for the American League MVP, and he kicked off the derby looking like just that. Gonzalez pounded nine homers through his first ten outs including a few mammoth blasts.

Matt Holliday struggled a bit at first, but still found a way to get five balls out of the park.

Cano stepped up next and the father-son connection worked out pretty well for the Yankees second baseman notching some of the furthest shots of the first round including a ridiculous 472 ft. blast to center field. Cano ended up with eight homers, punching his ticket to the second round.

Rickie Weeks stepped up fourth to the plate probably as the biggest underdog in the field of competitors. Unfortunately, Fielder’s loyalty in picking his teammate to join him in representing the NL did not work out all that well and Weeks was only able to muster three dingers.

The much anticipated Home Run Derby debut of Jose Bautista came next and the spotlight was bright on him. Bautista led the league in homers in 2010 and leads again halfway through the year again this season, notching a remarkable total of 85 homers since the start of last season The Blue Jays outfielder, nicknamed “Joey Bats” unfortunately went quiet in his first derby appearance. Nerves probably got the best of him and he ended up with a paltry four balls out of the park.

Matt Kemp, like Gonzalez is an arguable MVP favorite for his league. The center fielder that has the tools to do everything on the baseball field also wasn’t able to get in a rhythm. Solid contact wasn’t his problem crushing line drives down the foul line, but he was unable to get enough lift on the ball. Kemp made nine outs before hitting a long ball but was able to get the monkey off his back on his last few swings and finished with two bombs.

Defending champion and American League captain David Ortiz stepped up next and made a shocking decision. He left the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry in Boston and also chose Robinson Cano’s father to throw to him in the derby. “Big Papi” ended up with an appropriate five homers in his fifth Home Run Derby.

The National League captain and Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder uncorked his long powerful swing for a total of five home runs as well.

Since Fielder, Ortiz and Holliday all ended with five dingers, and there was only two spots to fill in the second round, the three of them were thrust into a “swing off” to determine who would get those two spots. In a “swing off” each competitor gets five swings, regardless of outs or home runs to see who can put the most out of the park. The two former champions got the best of Holliday including five homers in five swings for Fielder, advancing them to the second round, leaving Prince as the lone national league representative remaining in the contest.

The total home runs combined between the first and second round for each player would determine who would advance to the finals.

Cano, one of the most pure hitters in the game today blasted twelve homers in round two to lock up his spot in the finals. Gonzalez was then able to pound eleven of his own to put the pressure on the former champions. Ortiz faltered, eliminating him, and though Fielder was able to blast the longest home run of the contest at a “Ruthian” 474 ft., his low first-round total held him back allowing fans to see a Yankees – Red Sox rivalry in the finals.

In the final round, scores reset and the remaining two players duke it out to see who would get the honor of lifting the iconic silver trophy in the end.

Ultimately, after a great show from both men, the Yankees slugger was able to edge out his opponent and take home the crown.

Cano joins the ranks of names like Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire as champions of one of the most exciting events in sports today.

The consolation prize for 2010 champ Ortiz? His 77 career derby home runs eclipses the former record of 74 held by none other than “the kid,” Ken Griffey Jr.

And hey, at least he picked some great hitters.

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Barry Bonds is the all-time home run champion with 762 long balls, seven more than long time leader Hank Aaron. Though any recent baseball fan knows this to be true, Aaron still holds the title in everybody’s hearts.

As Bonds’ perjury trial regarding steroid use throughout his professional career continues, fans are doing anything they can to forget he overtook hammerin’ Hank in his last few games of 2007.

Though many players have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the past decade or so, including many prominent players in the infamous Mitchell Report, Bonds takes the brunt of the resentment.

Unfair? Maybe, but when you hold the most prestigious of records in America’s past-time, you better have earned it.

Unfortunately for Bonds the outcome of his trial probably doesn’t mean all that much for how he will be viewed. He will never be respected like Aaron was, no matter what the numbers say.

Moving forward, Alex Rodriguez, barring serious injury (or Barry Sanders like retirement), has an incredible opportunity to put Bonds in the rear-view mirror and take the crown for himself before his career is said and done.

A-Rod is currently sitting at 626 homers, putting him at sixth all time. In all probability in this year alone he will pass Ken Griffey Jr. (630), leaving only Mays, Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds to beat for the record.

Rodriguez is only 35 years old, and considering that he plays in the American League where he can play DH later in his career, he probably will be playing into his 40s.

For arguments sake, let’s say that he will play 5 more seasons after this one. As of right now he is 136 homers shy of Bonds. If he can cut that to 120 by the end of this season, that leaves only 24 home runs a year over those last five seasons to tie the record.

Let me amend my previous words a bit. Barring serious injury, the record stands no chance. However, the question remains, is this really an upgrade of character in fans eyes?

A-Rod, though not hated quite as much as Bonds, is easily the least liked player in the MLB outside of the New York area. He too has had steroid rumors swirling around him for years now, rumors which realistically can never been proven wrong nor shaken.

The point here is, one of the best records in sports is going through a tough time. The respect that Henry Aaron had from fans was immense, and will not be matched until a new savior comes along that can dispel any negativity that surrounds his mammoth blasts.

Everyone thought Griffey would be the one to take the crown, and legitimately at that. We missed the boat on him thanks to tragic injuries, but who else do we have to look forward to? Maybe if Albert Pujols can make a surge late in his career; maybe if young budding stars like Mike Stanton or Prince Fielder can get the job done in a new era where steroid testing is done regularly, then maybe we will see a change in the attitude towards the record.

Until then we are left wanting more. Wishing that these questionable blasts weren’t quite so questionable. No fan wants it to be this way, but it’s too late.

If only Griffey could have stayed healthy.

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