I am no A-Rod fan. (Though I might have been had the Red Sox been successful in acquiring him). But it does not seem to me to be fair to watch A-Rod take the heat for steroid use when others were certainly just as guilty. Other players should step forward, for the good of the game.

To be sure, the steroid era in baseball was wrong. Players should not have been taking them, and the “records” produced during that time should be viewed suspiciously. And, while they were not illegal, they should not have been taken.

If baseball is to move past the steroid era, than it must do everything it can to help people see that things are different. While the tests were confidential (and that should be respected), there is no penalty today for use then. It would be in the best interest of the game for players to come forward to admit their mistake, and promise not to do this again.

Failure for players to do this makes all other players suspect, even though the anonymous testing revealed only about 5 percent of players tested positive. For the sake of the 95 percent who tested negative, and the integrity of the game those players represent, players who tested positive should admit to it, and move on.

Baseball too must work to make sure this does not happen again. Tougher stands, such as a lifetime ban, would help take steroid use out of the game for many players. Moreover, it would send support to organizations like the Illinois High School Athletic Association, which began random testing of high school athletes, that steroid use at any level, to enhance athletic performance, is wrong.

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