I agree with all so far. I've been discusted with baseball since the late seventies when Ted Turner first hired Bobby Cox (total idiot). I was relieved in the early 80's when he was fired and Joe Torre was brought in. My discust re-arose when Ted fired Joe and brought Bobby back as general manager and Chuck Tanner became team manager. When Chuck was fired and Bobby stepped down to team manager, I got so pissed I almost stopped watching baseball. Bobby is a total idiot, he has been fortunate enough to have players that could overcome his stupidity and make him look good (to all but me). I quit watching in the early 90's when in the first Bobby Cox era World Series the Minnesota first baseman pulled the runner on first base (I think it was Gant) off the bag and the umpire called him out. Bobby Cox never said a word. When the camera focused on him, he took another sip on whatever he was drinking. He had no clue as to what was going on. That did it for me, no more baseball.
What they've done to Pete Rose is terrible. I'm not saying what he done was right in any way. Keeping him out of baseball functions is one thing, but not allowing him in the hall of fame is ludicrous as well as frivolous. No one can take away what he has done, no matter how hard they try.
As for how I come to love baseball early on. I was fortunate enough to live in Macon Georgia where I had a chance to see my first professional baseball game in the old Sally League. At Luther Williams Field in a game between Asheville N.C. (can't remember there name) and the Macon Peaches. I got to see Pete Rose (2nd base), Tommy Helms (outfield), and another one I can't remember his name right now in my first game and Tony Perez (ss) came along the following year. My dad told me, when he was a kid, he once saw Mel Ott, in an exibition game, hit a home run and hit the ball at the top of the flag pole in center field. That height would have made it well over 500 feet. I used to love hearing stories like that. As far as the major leagues, when the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. My first major league game was Pittsburgh at Atlanta. What a game. Eddie Mathews (3rd), Henry Aaron (rf), Rico Carty (lf) Dennis Menke (2nd or ss), Woody Woodward (ss or 2nd), Joe Torre catching and Tony Cloniger pitching. Don't remember the Pirates except Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargill. That game was a good old fashion pitchers duel with both pitchers going 13 innings with the Pirates winning 1 to nothing. Of course the pitchers mound was 6 inches taller then, so pitchers were more dominant. Pitching duels were the norm. Those were the days.
Now I've begun to watch baseball again, due to HDTV. The picture looks to good to ressist. Still not much interest in the game itself yet, but who knows.
As far as cheaters go, it's major league baseball itself, they are the cheaters for allowing this out of control drug abuse to continue.