![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/jose-canseco-steroids.jpg\" "\\"jose-canseco-steroids\\"")
<\/a>\u201c40\/40 club\/ESPN on the seats\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThis is exclusivity at it\u2019s best.\u00a0 Fellow blogger Brett<\/a> (aka my lil brother) wrote a piece on baseball\u2019s influence over hip-hop music<\/a>.\u00a0 I felt that out of tribute, I should find my own quote from this same influence.\u00a0 The above quote is from Jay-Z.\u00a0 He is rapping about how he is above the rest.\u00a0 He spits about pushing weight (crack-cocaine to be exact) to promote his growth as an exclusive member.\u00a0 He is actually the owner of a NY night club called The 40\/40 club.\u00a0 Can you name all of the club member VIP\u2019s?\u00a0 Jay-Z probably couldn\u2019t either, so it\u2019s all money.<\/p>\n The 40\/40 club is exclusive.\u00a0 So exclusive in fact, that it only has 4 members. Quick, what do Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano have in common?\u00a0 If you guessed being homos you were close, but not correct.\u00a0 They have all been linked in one way or another to steroids.\u00a0 (As a responsible reporter, ehhh, I should note here that Soriano has only been indirectly linked to \u2018roids.)\u00a0 That\u2019s right; the 40\/40 club is the prime example of what the steroid era meant for baseball.\u00a0 Sure, Willie Mays<\/a>, Bobby Bonds<\/a>, Darryl Strawberry<\/a>, Eric Davis<\/a>, Vlad Guerrero<\/a>, Alfonso Soriano<\/a> (for a 2nd<\/sup> time) and Carlos Beltran<\/a> all came close.\u00a0 But that is no horseshoe or hand grenade throwing.\u00a0 These 4 men (using the term loosely) are the only\u00a0 to achieve such asterisk laced glory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are the actual stats for the four members.<\/p>\n Year\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Player\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Team\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HR SB<\/p>\n 1988<\/a> Jos\u00e9 Canseco<\/a> Oakland Athletics<\/a> 42 40<\/p>\n 1996<\/a> Barry Bonds<\/a> San Francisco Giants<\/a> 42 40<\/p>\n 1998<\/a> Alex Rodriguez<\/a> Seattle Mariners<\/a> 42 46<\/p>\n 2006<\/a> Alfonso Soriano<\/a> Washington Nationals<\/a> 46 41<\/p>\n What this means? I am not exactly sure.\u00a0 Does it mean that this ballers\u2019 club is merely a symbol for steroids?\u00a0 Or does it represent what the human body is capable of under the greatest scientific oversight?\u00a0 Some might agree of with the first comment; I call them pessimists.\u00a0 I like to view this group in a more positive light.\u00a0 I like to think that the truth of science was once on display for all of the world to see.\u00a0 I mean why not?\u00a0 What fun is it, as a life-long baseball fan, to think of this club as being \u201conly allowed to cheaters\u201d?\u00a0 For me it is none.\u00a0 Sure, it goes against most American morals, but as a guy who believes morals are a paradigm thrust upon society, I tend to see such things in a much more flexible sight.\u00a0 Honestly, in the opinion of someone who defended steroid use in a freshman English class, I feel that steroids are the only reason baseball is evaluated the way it is now.\u00a0 But whether you did steroids or not, the amazing athletic talent it takes to still pull off 40 steals and 40 bombs is magnificently impressive.\u00a0 (Since it is considered common knowledge that the majority of major leaguers were taking some sort of supplement that would have failed the MLB drug test, I feel it provides an equal playing field for the majority of MLB players to achieve these records; minus pitchers of course.)\u00a0 The fan inside of me was young, sure, but I was still old enough to know that scientists were tapping into a human potential that only Hitler and his Nazis could have created. (Insert any prior knowledge of Ivan Drago).\u00a0 Even in fantasy baseball today, the power\/speed combo guy is highly coveted.\u00a0 Think of David Wright<\/a> prior to Citi Field.<\/p>\n I firmly believe that there will never be another member to join the 40\/40 club.\u00a0 This will forever cement the exclusivity of the club in the record books of baseball.\u00a0 Sure it might have been approved through cheating.\u00a0 Does that mean that Bobby Bonds was living vicariously through his son?\u00a0 Maybe it was all Bobby\u2019s idea to hook his son up with BALCO.\u00a0 Just saying.\u00a0 But the way any intelligent person should view the elite club is through their scientific, logical eye.\u00a0 Science was able to progress the human race to levels that are incapable of being reached naturally.\u00a0 It was chemists who wanted to push the human envelope.\u00a0 Without these behind the scenes nerds(and hopefully sports fans that would have the ability to appreciate such progress), fans would not have been allowed a glimpse into the future.\u00a0 Or maybe it is a look into the evil soul of a capitalist nation on the demise.\u00a0 Maybe the fall of the 40\/40 baseball player is a tragic symbol for the American economy.\u00a0 No matter how you view it, the club should be respected. Some might see the era is to the history of baseball the same way old timers see Ebbets Field.\u00a0 It simply marks a point in time and is seen in the rearview as a way baseball used to be played.\u00a0 Just as our grandparents talk about Ebbets, we shall talk about the 40\/40 club.\u00a0 Something that will most likely never been seen again, yet something that we will remember forever.\u00a0 One. “Hell, If I’d known 40-40 was going to be a big deal, I’d have done it every year!”- Mickey Mantle \u201c40\/40 club\/ESPN on the seats\u201d This is exclusivity at it\u2019s best.\u00a0 Fellow blogger Brett (aka my lil brother) wrote a piece on baseball\u2019s influence over hip-hop music.\u00a0 I felt that out of tribute, I should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,17,6,13],"tags":[481,477,482,478,334,479,480,476],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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